Delhi Daredevils: Horrific ending to pretty tale

It may be almost a week and a half since the close of the 5th edition of the Indian Premier League, but I was so appalled to the elimination of the Delhi Daredevils at the quarters that I still can’t get over it. They were easily the best team at the round robin phase this season. Call it pure bad luck or attribute it to the outrageous decision of dropping Morne Morkel during the all-important qualifier, but Delhi had one of the most unceremonious exits this tournament has ever seen. Even more so because they had had similar brushes with the title in the past but never really managed to get their hands on the silverware.

What was even more ironic was that they were ousted by a team that made it to the semifinals by only a whisker. In CSK’s defence, despite having had their share of luck in its purest form, they’ve managed to make sure it counts, every time. They probably are the most successful team in the IPL thus far. Please note that I picked the word ‘successful’, and not ‘hard-working’ or ‘best’.

Getting back to Team Delhi, I really wanted to figure out what goes wrong with them all the time. I narrowed down on one answer, the one I thought would probably fit the best – Virender Sehwag. He could be a really good batsman, agreed. He’s really experienced, spot on again. But how good a tactician is he? Let us keep the round robin matches out of the picture, for Delhi had done brilliantly during that phase. It looks almost as though Sehwag and Co. cracked under the pressure. During the first of the two qualifiers, the game was between two evenly matched sides, and KKR was better on the day. What interested me more was the game against the CSK and the hotly-contested decision of dropping Morne Morkel. Sure the limit on the number of overseas players in a side was a factor, but why MORKEL? I’m sure most people would rather see an extensive shuffling, if necessary, in their team to keep their star bowler than drop the star bowler himself. With an incredibly sensible and experienced Mahela Jayawardene in the side, it really surprised me that something like this passed from the ‘idea’ stage to the ‘implementation’ stage. Another really astounding decision taken during the course of that match was Sehwag giving himself a bowl. That was probably the final nail in DD’s coffin, as he was plundered for 21-odd runs that one over.

After 222 runs were set for a target, DD panicked. Sure any team would have panicked, but it probably affected their reasoning. Instead of the customary opening pair of Sehwag and Warner, Jayawardene and Warner walked out to the centre. An unspoken rule has always been, “Never make drastic changes under pressure.” DD did just that. This probably might have not been a factor in the batting collapse that followed.

It drove me to thinking that Virender Sehwag, after the bowling debacle, had lost all confidence in himself. With due respect, in my personal opinion, Delhi Daredevils need a new captain. With men like Jayawardene in the team, it also looks like they have no dearth of captaincy material.