The image of Rishabh Pant conversing with Axar Patel during Delhi Capitals' practice at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru before their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore has quickly gone viral on social media. Pant sustained injuries in a car accident and was unable to participate in the tournament, resulting in David Warner taking over as captain of the team. Despite this, head coach Ricky Ponting emphasised that Pant will continue to be an integral part of the squad, and the team displayed his jersey on the dugout in a gesture of honour.
Capitals struggle to find team balance
Delhi Capitals have had a poor start to the season, losing all four games and remaining pointless in the tournament. To turn things around, they will need to work as a unit when they face the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.
Warner and his deputy, Axar Patel, have been the only ones contributing to the team's batting attack. Axar's cameos have been the only silver lining for Delhi this season. Warner is second on the leading run-getters' list, but his strike rate of 114.83 is a concern. He has been struggling to score runs at a rapid rate, and DC losing wickets in heaps has only made the Australian's task harder.
The team has faced technical problems with Prithvi Shaw's batting against top-quality pace attacks. This is something that can't be fixed quickly. Manish Pandey, who came in place of Sarfaraz Khan, has also failed to contribute. The team's poor bench strength in terms of Indian talent means the coaching staff now only has Ripal Patel to fall back on.
DC could bring in Phil Salt in place of Rovman Powell. The hard-hitting English batter is known for his attacking innings at the start and could keep the run-rate in check while Warner plays the anchoring role. Delhi's pacers have been taken to the cleaners, although Anrich Nortje and Mustafizur Rahman did well against MI, albeit in a losing cause. But more will be expected of them at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is a belter of a track.
Spinners Axar and Kuldeep Yadav are also yet to churn out match-winning performances. It remains to be seen if the Capitals can fire as a unit and turn their fortunes around in the upcoming matches.
