IPL 7: A story of missed opportunities for Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils suffered a demoralizing defeat on Saturday at the hands of a smartly picked horses-for-courses Rajasthan Royals XI. The defeat means that Delhi has a very slim chance of making the playoffs and the reasons are not that tough to decipher. Traditionally, Delhi has bought players and nurtured them for seasons at a stretch only to donate them all when they looked ripe and in-form to deliver some amazing performances. They did so after the 2010 season with Gautam Gambhir, Rajat Bhatia and Amit Mishra. In 2014, it was Unmukt Chand, David Warner and Varun Aaron were let go. While Chand is yet to get a game with Rajasthan, Warner and Aaron are having excellent campaigns. [caption id=“attachment_1508071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dinesh Karthik has struggled in 5 of DD’s 6 games so far. BCCI[/caption] Should Delhi have backed some of these players and retained faith in them then 2014 might not have turned into a season of gloom so early for the Devils. But this is the macro environment which has messed up a lot of squads over the years. What about the micro management of resources? To understand that, one look at DD’s middle order might provide some insight into a deeper rot. Delhi’s middle order has been a far cry from other formidable line-ups in the IPL and looks monotonous once the opening pair departs. In the middle overs, Delhi looked unstable and failed to generate any thrust. DD managed only 26 runs against RR from the 10th to the 16th over in comparison to 56 and 52 runs respectively that they managed in their wins against Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. In all of their defeats this season, the middle order has failed miserably and bad decisions coupled with loose strokes are to be blamed. Last night Quinton De Kock and Kevin Pietersen got out in the same over to Pravin Tambe. With Dinesh Karthik out of form and the two mainstays of the lineup gone, Delhi stuttered in the mid-overs. Karthik’s dip in form is the most alarming for DD. His five failures in six innings are more of a pattern than an anomaly. Figures of 106 runs from six games at a strike rate of 109 do not justify the kind of price Delhi paid for DK. Delhi should look to stabilize their middle order even if that means sacrificing Parnell for Ross Taylor. These kinds of performances also bring to the fore visuals of Badrinath and Doug Bollinger going unsold at the auctions when DD could have easily grabbed them up at the base price. If the match against RR springs any clues as to how DD’s slow-bowling attack is going to perform at home in the matches to come, then the situation is only going to get worse. RR’s Tambe and Bhatia put on the brakes on DD’s middle order on a pitch which has traditionally been a slow and low one. To see Rahul Sharma and Nadeem go for so many on the same pitch makes one marvel at the gravity of the situation and if DD have the right kind of bowling resources for their home ground. Mohammad Shami has already stressed that opening with such a thin line-up is hampering his rhythm and it would not fair to criticize him for the overall bowling performances by DD.