IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals must promote Rovman Powell and Axar Patel up the order
Delhi Capitals suffered another humbling loss in IPL 2023 as they scraped through 142 while chasing a total of 200 against the Rajasthan Royals.
The manner in which David Warner's side lost the game will hurt the Capitals even more as it turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair as DC never showed any intent of chasing down the target.
The Opening Woes for Delhi Capitals
Over the last few editions, the Delhi Capitals have fared well in the tournament, qualifying for the playoffs in four of the last five editions and a major reason for their success has been a solid opening combination.
Be it the duo of Shikhar Dhawan-Prithvi Shaw or David Warner-Shaw, the Capitals have tasted success at the top. However, in the three games so far in the ongoing edition, Shaw has faltered miserably, forcing skipper Warner to play in an uncharacteristic manner.
With Shaw not amongst the runs as well as the added responsibility of leading the side, Warner has looked out of place despite scoring half-centuries at a meager strike-rate.
Rovman Powell and Axar Patel: DC are leaving it too late for the men in form
Along with the top-order struggles, the Delhi Capitals' middle-order hasn't shown up with the bat either. The likes of Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, and Sarfaraz Khan haven't been able to make any impact with the bat so far, putting all the pressure on the lower-order batters in the form of Rovman Powell and Axar Patel.
Powell and Patel have been in sublime form with the bat in international cricket in recent times, a prospect that should have augured well for the franchise. But the team management seems to have missed a trick with regards to their batting line-up.
Coach Ricky Ponting must push the in-form duo of Powell and Patel slightly up the batting order to minimize the batting collapse as well as push the scoring rate a notch higher.
The move would not only give a breathing room to skipper Warner, but also give the big-hitting Rossouw a license to free his arms and play without a second thought.
While one can argue that it is still early days in the ongoing edition of the IPL, the manner in which Delhi Capitals have lost three games so far, it looks highly imperative to make a slight shuffle in the batting order.