Down in the dumps after three consecutive heavy defeats, a beleaguered Delhi Daredevils has no option but to win all their remaining games, starting with the tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday to salvage any hope of qualifying for the play-offs of Indian Premier League-7.
With just two wins out of eight games, the Daredevils are languishing at the bottom of the points table and only a miracle performance from here on can seal their place in the knock-out stages of the T20 event.
For Daredevils, it turned out to be a nightmarish return to home as they are yet to register a win out of three matches at the capital’s Feroze Shah Kotla ground. The Delhi outfit’s only two wins so far this season came in the UAE leg of the tournament.
But what has hurt Daredevils badly was the result of their last three encounters at home turf. The Daredevils lost by seven wickets to Rajasthan Royals in their first home match before slumping to identical eight-wicket defeats against Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Psychologically, Daredevils are at their lowest ebb and would be hoping for something extraordinary to turn their fortunes around.
While Delhi’s batting has been inconsistent in the tournament so far, the patchy and unimpressive performance of the bowlers — Mohammad Shami, Wayne Parnell, Siddharth Kaul and Shahbaz Nadeem — did not help the side’s cause either.
The poor form of their star player and captain Kevin Pietersen has added to Delhi’s misery. Pietersen has just managed 62 runs from five innings which is way below the mark.
Going by his standards, it was definitely not the start Gary Kirsten would have expected from his first coaching assignment with any IPL side.
Belief is something which seems to be missing in Delhi players, who would be looking for inspiration from some quarters to avenge upon their loss against Sunrisers in their previous outing this year.
