"They haven't gotten their KYC done yet" - Aakash Chopra on the Delhi Capitals failing to open their account in IPL 2023
Aakash Chopra has said light-heartedly that the Delhi Capitals (DC) have failed to open their account in IPL 2023 thus far because they haven't gotten their KYC done yet.
The Rajasthan Royals set DC a 200-run target after being asked to bat first in Guwahati on Saturday, April 8. Their bowlers then restricted David Warner and Co. to 142/8 to register an emphatic 57-run win and hand the Capitals their third consecutive loss at the start of the tournament.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that the Delhi Capitals are still searching for their first win, saying:
"There were expectations that Delhi would register their first win and open their account. But they haven't gotten their KYC done yet. The account does not open without KYC these days."
Speaking about the Delhi Capitals' chase, the former Indian opener highlighted how Trent Boult put them behind the eight ball from the first over itself, elaborating:
"Prithvi Shaw was dismissed in the first over itself and Manish Pandey right after him. If we see from 2019, Trent Boult has picked up 19 wickets in the first over itself. He is going at a different level."
Prithvi Shaw was brilliantly caught by Sanju Samson behind the wickets off the third ball he faced, even before he could open his account. Manish Pandey was trapped plumb in front of the wickets off the very next delivery as the Capitals got off to a disastrous start in their run chase.
"Why was he doing that?" - Aakash Chopra questions David Warner's slow knock in the Delhi Capitals' chase
While highlighting Rilee Rossouw's overreliance on the sweep shot, Aakash Chopra questioned David Warner's approach, saying:
"Rilee Rossouw - reverse sweep. No one plays as many sweeps as he plays. He got out to Ashwin. Warner kept standing at one end, was playing at a run-a-ball. Why was he doing that? I have got no idea."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Delhi Capitals skipper's painstaking knock was never going to help the team's cause, observing:
"The team will not win if you don't accelerate. I don't know if he was unable to accelerate or was trying to play in a slightly different fashion, but this was not an innings that you associate with Warner."
While acknowledging that the Delhi Capitals lost a flurry of wickets at the other end, Chopra felt Warner should have batted more aggressively, elaborating:
"I understand that wickets were falling from the other end but we are talking about David Warner and not a kid. David Warner has that ability. He has scored more than 6000 IPL runs and more than 60 fifties, including yesterday's half-century. It seemed he will take the attack to the opposition but it didn't happen."
Apart from Warner, Lalit Yadav (38 off 24) and Rossouw (14 off 12) were the only two Delhi Capitals batters to reach the double-digit mark. Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal, with three wickets apiece, were the Rajasthan Royals' most successful bowlers.