IPL 6: The woes of the Delhi Daredevils

Things are not going too well for the Delhi Daredevils

Five matches played so far, five losses and no points on board. Such is the plight of the once-feared IPL team Delhi Daredevils. The team composition is in disarray as they struggle to find the right structural balance for their playing 11; their captain’s performance has dipped to new lows, while no other candidate seems to want to step up to the plate. When the batting works, the bowling falls apart; and when the bowlers come through, the batsmen let go of the reins completely, making the team look utterly chaotic and clueless.

Before the start of the IPL, though many pointed to the lack of a strong wingman for the Delhi squad after Kevin Pietersen’s unexpected injury and Jesse Ryder’s unprovoked assault leading to his absence, no one would have possibly foreseen the team in such a situation. But irrespective of Pietersen and Ryder’s absence, in all fairness, there’s not much lacking in the team.

As far the squad strength goes, Delhi has a good blend of both Indian and offshore players, even though not many of its Indian squad members are that well-known. However, it’s not these not-so-well-known players who have been under-performing, but the much fussed-about big-wigs who have been letting the team down, like in their away match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Daredevils seemed to have it all under their control till the very end only to lose the game in the super-over, failing to score 16 runs in six balls. And to consider it honestly, it wasn’t as if the Royal Challengers Bangalore were performing brilliantly. Of the 11 members in their team, in all of their six matches so far, it’s been Virat Kohli, and maybe Chris Gayle, who has been consistent propelling the team to four wins so far. Even against Delhi, it was Kohli who was instrumental in powering them forward before it all came apart after his wicket fell. Yet again in all these comparisons, where RCB do have a take-charge guy amongst them, Delhi Daredevils still seek that elusive rescuer.

Thus each match sees them try to pin their hopes on someone different. The squad composition has been re-jigged, players have been re-shuffled and yet the results are still the same. Even teams which don’t boast of such a star-studded ensemble are ranked above the Daredevils – a reason for definite embarrassment for the team and its support staff. Incidentally, till the last season when Delhi regularly made it to the top bracket in the points table, its glamour was substantially overshadowed by its performances; rivalled even. Yet, this year, as the Daredevils’ performance continues to disappoint, the question begs merit as to whether the team can regroup and emerge as resilient as they were before. Or whether the players’ mental roadblock, which seems to have hit them hard at the most inopportune time, would prove to be a costly detriment to the team and, as a result, to the investment funnelled into making it a competent and reliable squad.

Then again, the significance of these questions isn’t as much as the answers that can, and will, be provided by the players. With three matches into the IPL, Delhi could have probably hoped for a timely comeback; but with five matches done and dusted and their otherwise highly-regarded players contributing almost zilch, it’s probably high time the Daredevils started revaluing their options. They are not exactly without choices, but their manner of exercising these choices is definitely not bringing them value for their money. Getting back into the top quartet in the points table maybe a distant dream, but the Daredevils can still play for pride and redemption. Pride that’ll help them to hold on to their past achievements and redemption that’ll obliterate the fiasco of the first five opening matches – both as hosts and as visitors to other IPL hosting venues.