Delhi Capitals on Saturday had another real chance in hand to finally open their account in IPL 2023. RCB struggled with their batting in the fag end and erred in their use of impact player, hence setting a target of just 175 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. But Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnel struck early with the new ball, reducing DC to 2 for three before Vijaykumar Vyshak made it count on his debut as the visitors were denied another opportunity of a comeback. They eventually succumbed to a 23-run loss to lead to their losing streak of five matches in the season.
It all started with a freak run out from Anuj Rawat which sent Prithvi Shaw back for another duck. Siraj and Parnel then sent back Mitchell Marsh and Yash Dhull respectively in a space of just six balls before David Warner was denied a fifty in the match as he was dismissed by Vyshak for just 19. Manish Pandey was DC's top scorer with his knock of 50 off 38, but struggled to find assistance. Delhi eventually were restricted to 151 for nine.
ALSO READ: Mohammed Shami posts viral photo with Preity Zinta; caption leaves fans befuddled
After the match, former India cricketer Virender Sehwag, in conversation with Cricbuzz, ridiculed DC head coach Ricky Ponting saying that he should be held responsible for the team's five consecutive losses in the tournament. He also compared DC's luck to that of Punjab Kings of previous IPL seasons.
“I think I said before that Punjab have passed on the axe to Delhi, so now the axe has reached Delhi. When a team losses, the coaches are credited, so when the team losses, they should be held responsible. Even we said so many times that Ponting has done a brilliant job, took them to the finals, they now reach the playoffs almost every year now. He took all those credits, now he has to take this credit as well. This is not the Indian team where they take credit for the wins and for the losses someone else is blamed. There is zero role of a coach in an IPL team. The big responsibility is man-management and to give the players that confidence, but in the end, a coach looks good only when the team performs well which Delhi haven't done it at all. I feel Delhi has reached that point where they are confused what should they do to change their fortune,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I think I said before that Punjab have passed on the axe to Delhi, so now the axe has reached Delhi. When a team losses, the coaches are credited, so when the team losses, they should be held responsible. Even we said so many times that Ponting has done a brilliant job, took them to the finals, they now reach the playoffs almost every year now. He took all those credits, now he has to take this credit as well. This is not the Indian team where they take credit for the wins and for the losses someone else is blamed. There is zero role of a coach in an IPL team. The big responsibility is man-management and to give the players that confidence, but in the end, a coach looks good only when the team performs well which Delhi haven't done it at all. I feel Delhi has reached that point where they are confused what should they do to change their fortune,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi remain at the bottle of the points table as the only team yet to win a match in IPL 2023.