Soft dismissals by Delhi Daredevils’ batsmen cost the team the Indian Premier League contest against Mumbai Indians, according to fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Daredevils stuttered to 128 for 7 in its 20 overs in reply to its opponent’s 142 for 8.
“It was a good outing. Unfortunately, we just did not pull it off. We bowled really well and had a few dismissals, run outs, soft dismissals in the first six (overs). That’s when you are capable of chasing much more than that,” said Rabada after Daredevils lost by 14 runs on Saturday.
Rabada was referring to the suicidal run-out of opener Aditya Tare in the fourth ball and the tame dismissals of the other opener Sanju Samson and Nos. 3 and 4 Karun Nair and Shreyas Iyer, when a more cautious approach was called for to overhaul the modest target. South African Rabada, used first-up, took one for 30; he also led the fightback in the chase later, after Daredevils was reduced to 24 for 6, by making 44 before getting dismissed in the penultimate over.
“The pitch was nice to bat on. Unfortunately, this was not our day. They were getting wickets of decent deliveries, nothing spectacular,” he explained. “It’s disappointing that we are losing. At the end of the day, we did not execute quite well. The numbers talk for themselves. But we have trust in our batsmen, we have some young talent. The tournament is far from over,” said Rabada with some optimism after Daredevils slumped to its fourth defeat of the season in six games.
‘Fighting team’
He said his side would need a reassessment of its performance but it was certainly not out of reckoning in the tournament. “It’s just that last push. We have been in a few tight situations. Actually, all our games have been tight, none of our games have been swinging either way. So, I think we just need to close that up. We are not out of this (IPL) for sure.
“Today, our game again got close whereas it should have never been. So, we are a fighting team. We play right till the end. We always throw the first punch most of the time. It’s just about closing it up,” said Rabada.
Rabada also had a word of praise for former India stalwart Rahul Dravid’s role in the Daredevils’ team. “Rahul Dravid was a magnificent player. And he has proved to be a good mentor. He knows the game very well and his experience is priceless. He has played the game at the highest level and he has done it exceptionally well,” he said.
“He is a great guy to have in the change room, especially since we have a lot of youngsters and they are definitely learning from him.”
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