"The way with which their opening is going these days, he will be of use" - Harbhajan Singh suggests DC to use Shane Watson as an opening batter
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has highlighted the Delhi Capitals' (DC) opening combination woes and believes assistant coach Shane Watson can do a better job of it for the franchise.
The 2020 IPL finalists are still ranked at the bottom of the points table despite a slender seven-run win over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday, April 24.
DC made a huge selection call by dropping Prithvi Shaw and promoting Phil Salt up the order against SRH. The move did not pay off as Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed the English international for a duck. David Warner has been forced to employ a rather conservative approach with the DC batting unit not stepping up.
Speaking about DC's troubles at the top of the order in IPL 2023 so far, Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel:
"I'm saying that DC should also play Shane Watson, he recently retired, and the way with which DC's opening is going these days, he will be of use, and a better choice as well."
Assessing the close encounter, Harbhajan praised Axar Patel and Manish Pandey's partnership as well as DC's bowling performance that gave them the win. He said:
"It seemed as if DC scored 25-30 runs less in the first innings on this pitch. The DC batters did not contribute much, the recovery from 62-5 was incredible from Axar Patel and Manish Pandey."
He continued:
"Credit to Axar Patel and Manish Pandey, they played really well and took the total to 144. DC might have thought that they can defend this, but they knew they will have to bowl really well. Ishant Sharma bowled a great spell upfront and Harry Brook's bat has not been talking since that hundred."
SRH stumbled during the run chase while trying to score 145 runs. Mayank Agarwal top scored with 49, but tight bowling by DC ensured that they won their second consecutive match.
"DC's confidence should rise after this" - Harbhajan Singh
DC began their IPL 2023 campaign on a poor note after recording five successive defeats. They got their first points on the board after winning a low-scoring thriller against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at home.
Lauding the spinners' performance and expecting DC to play their best cricket in the remaining games, Harbhajan Singh said:
"Spinners also have to be applauded for their efforts. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav bowled really well. They did not give runs in the middle overs and took three wickets together as well. DC's confidence should rise after this, but I think DC are a much better team than this."
DC and SRH will soon face each other again, this time at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, April 29.