On Saturday, the Delhi Capitals maintained their terrible streak by suffering their fifth straight defeat in the 2023 Indian Premier League. David Warner’s team was defeated by Royal Challengers Bangalore by a score of 23 runs, yet again the Capitals’ batting order failed to deliver.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, DC suffered a top-order collapse after holding the hosts to a respectable total of 174/6. The side was reduced to 30/4 by the sixth over, and while Manish Pandey (50) did lead a fightback for the team, it ultimately wasn’t enough.
Since the Capitals are the only team to have won in the IPL 2023 thus far, concerns have been expressed about the team’s strategy. Even though DC is without its best player and team leader Rishabh Pant, the squad still has superstars like Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, and Axar Patel.
It’s interesting to note that Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, two of the game’s most successful captains, are in the dugout for DC. And as the Capitals lost to RCB on Saturday afternoon, former India head coach Ravi Shastri had no mercy towards either them or their director of cricket Ganguly.
Shastri observed on-air as RCB were closing in on a convincing victory, “Problem now with Delhi Capitals is, especially with the way the other teams are going, you lose four on the trot, it becomes very, very difficult to come back.” There are certain individuals in the dugout who are not accustomed to losing. Simon Doull, Shastri’s fellow pundit, said, “Ricky Ponting’s one.
This is Ganguly’s second spell with Delhi Capitals; in the 2019 season, just before being named BCCI president, he served as Ponting’s mentor for DC.
David Warner as well. He has also been on the winning side, Shastri noted before making a huge jab at the former captain’s time on the board. During a significant portion of Ganguly’s term as BCCI President, Shastri served as India’s head coach.
“It’s not about losing. It’s about being hammered. It’s five on the trot, with you not looking like winning. Losing close games is one thing, when you’re being outplayed by opposition, it’s not a happy story.
