IPL 2023: Is it too late for Delhi Capitals to make the playoffs?

You will, most probably, be surprised to read this. Before the 16^th season of the Indian Premier League started, when I was sitting on a live show and was asked to pick my four playoff teams, my fourth team was Delhi Capitals. My answer drew raised eyebrows from all the other panelists on the show, because it was well known that Delhi would be without their talismanic captain, wicketkeeper and maverick No 4, the injured Rishabh Pant.

And yet, while aware of the massive void that Pant’s absence left on the Delhi setup, a cursory look at their squad gave me the belief that this franchise, if it played to potential, could make the IPL 2023 playoffs. There was have David Warner, the most successful overseas batsman in the IPL with over 6,000 runs; there was Mitchell Marsh, whose contribution to Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup triumph underlined his value in the format; Rilee Roussow, the South African batsman who made a name as a T20 specialist in leagues around the world, was an option as No 3 and in the middle order; the West Indies’ T20I captain, Rovman Powell, is a terrific six-hitter; the hustling and bustling South African quick Anrich Nortje can, when in rhythm, be a handful on Indian pitches; there was the allrounder Axar Patel, in the form of his life; there was the vastly talented Prithvi Shaw who could, despite a lack of quality runs in domestic cricket, provide strong starts; there was India’s premier white-ball spinner this year in Kuldeep Yadav; there was the promise of India’s most recent Under-19 World Cup captain, Yash Dhull, and the first-class run titan, Sarfaraz Khan; there was Manish Pandey, Mustafizur Rahman, Lungi Ngidi and Chetan Sakariya.

It seemed to this writer that if these aforementioned cricketers stepped up and delivered, that Capitals could seriously push the middle rung of IPL teams this year – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings – to eke out a spot alongside in the final four. And now, after losing five of seven matches, here lie Delhi at tenth position – last out of all teams – with a net run rate of -0.961. Their two ticks in the W column have been scrappy, narrow wins by four wickets and seven runs and in each of these two games, Delhi’s opponents owned control of much of the situation.

Where did it all go wrong? And should we be surprised?

The eighth over of Delhi’s match in Hyderabad on Monday, bowled by Washington Sundar who had no wickets to show in six matches thus far, aptly sums up the team’s predicament. The over started with Delhi at 57/2, a run rate of 8.14, with Warner on 21 from 18 deliveries. The over ended with Delhi 62/5, three wickets to Washington’s name as once again the innings unraveled spectacularly.

Second ball of the over, Warner slog-swept to the fielder at deep backward square leg. Fourth ball, Sarfaraz did the exact same thing. And on the sixth ball, Aman Khan tried to smash the ball into the stands but instead played an ugly heave that settled in the hands of the fielder at in the covers. Three bad shots, each the result of poor judgment.

Losing five matches in a row was a terrible way to start the IPL, and indeed it is due to such sloppy batting. Warner apart, no specialist batsman has delivered and the captain’s runs have been a struggle. The veteran batsman has struck at 119.53, and this has as much to do with Warner struggling to cope with the demands of batting hard in T20s today as to the lack of support.

Marsh managed six runs in his first four matches and then got into double digits when he made 25 against Hyderabad yesterday, an innings that lifted his season batting average to 6.20. Powell managed seven in three before the team decided to ditch him. Rossouw made 44 in three matches and strangely has not got another look-in. The biggest disappointment has been Shaw, with a paltry 47 runs in six innings for an average of 7.83. He has found many ways to get out, and each time inside the Powerplay. Where Shaw entered this IPL with serious claims to mounting a comeback to India’s T20I team ahead of next year’s World Cup, he has been so miserable as an opener that Delhi have dropped him altogether. England’s Phil Salt has scores of 5 and 0, Sarfaraz

These batting struggles have meant that the Capitals have not fielded the same 11 in seven matches, such has been the chopping and changing. It has not been much better with the ball.

Setting aside Kuldeep (seven wickets, economy 6.96) and Axar (six wickets, 7.04 per over) the main bowlers have conceded too many runs. Nortje too has six wickets but he’s gone at 8.41 per over. Mukesh Kumar has five and an economy of 9.66. Marsh has managed three wickets but goes at 9.04 an over. Khaleel Ahmed, the left-arm pacer with plenty of IPL experience, has managed three wickets in three games while conceding runs at 9.90 an over. Stacked up against the stats of the top four teams, these are glaring numbers.

Looking at Delhi’s struggles in each department, one cannot shake the feeling that their problems are not just key players failing to find consistency on the field. A coaching setup headed by Ricky Ponting and featuring assistant coaches in Shane Watson, Praveen Amre and Ajit Agarkar, as well as former Australia allrounder as fast bowling coach, to go with Sourav Ganguly as team director, has failed badly. There have been murmurs of Ponting wanting to pack up and head back to Australia and of rifts within the management and of the owners backing certain powerful figures over others. This, we all know, can rise to the top when a team is not doing well.

Delhi remain at tenth position on the IPL 2023 leaderboard, their campaign not yet over but very much on the rails. There’s hope, yes, given that Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders are also on four points, and Mumbai Indians have just six. But it will take something extraordinary for this beleaguered franchise back on track this season.