Depleted Delhi's first test at home against Rajasthan
Delhi's skipper Mahela Jayawardene with David Warner (left)and Kevin Pietersen (right).
NEW DELHI: The way things stand for Delhi at the moment, Mahela
Jayawardene will gleefully take a hobbling Kevin Pietersen into his side
for their second T20 league fixture against Rajasthan at the Ferozeshah
Kotla here on Saturday. Plagued by injuries to their top players
including Pietersen, the outfit, which reached the playoffs last season,
is suffering from starting troubles.
Jayawardene has the big task at hand of picking the side up from their six-wicket loss to defending champions Kolkata in the opening match of this year's league. His job is not made any easier with former skipper Virender Sehwag yet to recover from the back spasms that ruled him out of the previous match. "Viru will not be playing tomorrow (Saturday). His condition has improved and he has been putting in a lot of hard work with the physio but is still not fit to play," opener David Warner said here on Friday.
The worrying fact for the Delhi management is that apart from Jayawardene's fighting half-century, the side had very little to show from their opening tie. Their pace attack featuring Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra was less than formidable. As things started to drift, the shoulders started to droop, which is not a pleasant sight for any skipper this early in the tournament.
The perfect way to boost spirits will be a win over Rajasthan on Saturday. The Rahul Dravid-led side is not the strongest unit going around the league and with Aussie powerhouse Shane Watson yet to join the side, this will be Delhi's opportunity to catch them on the wrong foot.
Dravid can call upon his two tearaways -- Fidel Edwards and Shaun Tait -- to unleash their thunderbolts. But considering Delhi's struggles against spin the other night, West Indian Samuel Badree and Aussie Brad Hogg might not be bad options too.
Maybe one of the Delhi batsmen needs to bat through the innings, much like Bangalore's Chris Gayle did on Thursday night. Warner, though, refused comparisons with Gayle. "Not all of us are six foot tall like him who can wield a 3kg willow with ease. He's a freak of nature and even his mishits go for sixes. All of us need to realise that we are not Gayle and the best thing will be to get off to a good start," Warner said.
Jayawardene has the big task at hand of picking the side up from their six-wicket loss to defending champions Kolkata in the opening match of this year's league. His job is not made any easier with former skipper Virender Sehwag yet to recover from the back spasms that ruled him out of the previous match. "Viru will not be playing tomorrow (Saturday). His condition has improved and he has been putting in a lot of hard work with the physio but is still not fit to play," opener David Warner said here on Friday.
The worrying fact for the Delhi management is that apart from Jayawardene's fighting half-century, the side had very little to show from their opening tie. Their pace attack featuring Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra was less than formidable. As things started to drift, the shoulders started to droop, which is not a pleasant sight for any skipper this early in the tournament.
The perfect way to boost spirits will be a win over Rajasthan on Saturday. The Rahul Dravid-led side is not the strongest unit going around the league and with Aussie powerhouse Shane Watson yet to join the side, this will be Delhi's opportunity to catch them on the wrong foot.
Dravid can call upon his two tearaways -- Fidel Edwards and Shaun Tait -- to unleash their thunderbolts. But considering Delhi's struggles against spin the other night, West Indian Samuel Badree and Aussie Brad Hogg might not be bad options too.
Maybe one of the Delhi batsmen needs to bat through the innings, much like Bangalore's Chris Gayle did on Thursday night. Warner, though, refused comparisons with Gayle. "Not all of us are six foot tall like him who can wield a 3kg willow with ease. He's a freak of nature and even his mishits go for sixes. All of us need to realise that we are not Gayle and the best thing will be to get off to a good start," Warner said.
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment