The Delhi Capitals did not play the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad as a side positioned at the number two on the points table in the Indian Premier League and looked like a side without any concrete backup plans or tactics to contain the opposition batsmen. The bowling attack that has been quite menacing throughout the season looked lacklustre as the Sunrisers’ opening pair of David Warner and Wriddhiman Saha took a liking to them and piled on the agony for Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting.
Here we have compiled the views of the captains after the game was finished along with some of the best experts' views about the game between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Delhi Capitals.
Discussing the outcome of the game and the impact it could bring to his side, the losing captain Shreyas Iyer stated that it was a big loss for them. However, he also raised the expectations from his team and also shed lights on his perspective as the captain of the side and said that the team just needs a win from the remaining two games to see through to the playoffs and that the side does not have to feel the pressure just yet.
“Definitely a big loss, but you can't get bogged down at this point of time. We still have two games. One win is all we need - we've been waiting for that since the last three games. This loss is definitely going to motivate us,” Iyer told the host broadcaster Star in the post-match interaction.
Pinpointing the moments of the game that took the game away from his side, Iyer pointed out that the Capitals lost the game pretty early when the bowling attack conceded runs in excess of 70 within the powerplay overs.
Iyer's decision to bowl first had raise eyebrows given the opposing captain Warner was looking to bat first, but he refused to call the decision a mistake, even with the benefit of a hindsight and rather said that the nature of pitches in the tournament so far has been interesting and that he has found it tough to read pitches correctly in the season so far.
“It's really difficult to judge what to do on this wicket - it's probably better to lose the toss. Unfortunately, I lost the toss and we thought of the dew. We obviously discuss a lot about the opposition batsmen,” Iyer said while defending his decision to bowl first.
The Capitals have their tasks cut out in the remaining two games scheduled against the Mumbai Indians and the RCB but he has exalted confidence in his team, albeit with air of caution. “Any team can surprise any team in this tournament. you can't underestimate anyone, especially at the business end of the tournament. RCB is a good team but we must also remember we've beaten them before,” Iyer said while accepting the challenges his side is facing in the next two games.
The winning captain David Warner expressed the tough call he had to take before the game of dropping Jonny Bairstow’s flamboyance for the stability of Kane Williamson. He also discussed at length the mindset he was in while he walked out to bat with Saha at the top of the order and said that he tried to go so far back in time to 2009 and looked to clear his stance by opening his front leg to give himself more access to the ball while going for big shots.
He spoke highly of the two best performers of the game - Rashid Khan and Wriddhiman Saha. “What a knock by Wriddhi. His strike rate in the powerplay is incredible,” Warner said about Saha’s swashbuckling innings in the post-match presentation ceremony.
He further pointed out that the men in orange have two remaining games scheduled in Sharjah and showed confidence in his team that they can post huge totals on the board considering the number of runs they scored in Dubai against the Delhi Capitals in this match. “Two games in Sharjah to go. If we can get 220 on the board here, who knows what we can get there,” Warner added in his post-match presentation interaction.
Cricket analyst Joy Bhattacharya pointed out on Twitter the long list of Sunrisers’ players who have left the IPL 2020 due to injuries and reminded the level of competence in the squad that the team is still in the hunt for the playoffs spot.
Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle was left wondering if the Delhi Capitals are running out of the wind to compete for so long in the tournament given their huge margins of defeats in the last three games. He suggested that the team needs to come back stronger but the challenges on its hands seem to have gone bigger with the remaining clashes scheduled against the RCB and MI.
Veteran cricket journalist Sambit Bal reminded the cruelty of the IPL and how quickly situations can turn around for teams as he wondered the probability of Delhi Capitals’ elimination from the tournament after having entered into the second half of the league with a promise to top the league stage.
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