It’s not panic stations yet, but Delhi Capitals wouldn’t want a third straight defeat to begin IPL 2023.
A batting line-up sans Rishabh Pant, their talismanic leader, has looked wonky with the engine room of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw yet to click into gear.
The middle-order batters were undone by the raw pace of Alzarri Joseph and the relentlessness of Mohammed Shami in the Capitals’ previous game against Gujarat Titans and will have to find a way out of their mire quickly. They couldn’t have asked for a better surface than Guwahati to rediscover their touch.
The Royals have been firing away with the bat and came within touching distance of their second straight win on Wednesday, but have a few combination questions to ponder.
Can they revisit Shimron Hetmyer’s entry point? He only came in to bat at No. 7 against Punjab Kings, with Royals needing 77 off 35 balls. He nearly got them home, blasting three sixes in an 18-ball 36.
Will they need to rethink Devdutt Padikkal’s role? He seems a misfit at No. 4, which perhaps means they could either have him bat higher or leave him out for Dhruv Jurel or another pure batter.
If they move him up to open the batting, it would mean a rejig of their entire batting order. This means Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has struck all the right notes as an opener, drops down to No. 3, and Sanju Samson to No. 4.
Only time will tell if they want to go down that route yet. It’s unlikely they’d make such wholesale changes just two games in. Yet it’s something for them to keep an eye out for before the points-table jostling becomes real.
There remains an inkling of doubt over Jos Butter’s participation. He jarred his little finger into the turf while taking a catch in the match against Punjab, and didn’t open the batting. Samson, the Royals captain, didn’t seem too concerned by the injury in the post-match press conference. However, if the Royals want to tread cautiously, there’s a ready replacement in Joe Root or the South African allrounder Donovan Ferreira, who caught the eye of talent scouts during his stint with Jo’burg Super Kings at the SA20.
Capitals are unlikely to tweak their XI unless there’s a late injury or niggle.
