Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians - the two winless teams firmly in the cellar - face off on Tuesday in their bid to get going in this year’s Indian Premier League.
Interestingly, the teams are equally hopeful of opening the account at the expense of an equally non-performing rival. Both have pointed to the “lack of momentum” in their campaigns while sidestepping the fact that most of their players have not performed to reputation.
The truth is, if Delhi has consistently bowled poorly in the powerplay and at the ‘death’, Mumbai has twice failed to put on enough runs on the board for its inadequate bowling resources to defend. In short, there are problems in plenty for these teams.
Capitals’ skipper David Warner has garnered 158 runs in three innings by playing the role of a sheet-anchor. But the continued failure of the top-order has left Warner playing a lone hand.
Prithvi Shaw continues to put no price on his wicket, while the overseas recruits have done precious little. All-rounder Mitchell
Marsh has returned home for his marriage. In addition, the absence of a quality wicketkeeper threatens to regularly hurt Capitals this season.
Mumbai relies too heavily on skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to fire. Moreover, given the lack of quality in its bowling, Mumbai batters have to be ready to do the heavy lifting.
For a start, batters from these teams need to strike form and the bowlers, a disciplined line.
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