Venugopal Rao, the director of cricket for the Delhi Capitals, said on Saturday that his team needs to improve its catching after a series of costly mistakes resulted in a loss despite scoring a huge total.
Despite scoring 264/2, Delhi Capitals lost to Punjab Kings by six wickets, marking their fourth defeat of the year.
Up to six catches were dropped by the hosts during the game, giving Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, and Shreyas Iyer lifelines. These players took advantage of the reprieves to propel Punjab to the highest successful run chase in T20 history with 7 balls to spare.
“Yes, I can say that not two, we dropped almost six catches today. See, when you are dropping at a crucial time, I do not think we will win these kinds of matches,” PTI quoted Rao as saying at the post-match press conference.
“Chances to players like Prabhsimran, Priyansh Arya and Shreyas, we need to take those. If we drop catches, we cannot defend. The one area we need to improve is catching. Even in the last game against SRH, we dropped Abhishek twice. In this format, you cannot afford that.”
In the third over, bowler Lungi Ngidi got injured while trying to take a catch close to the boundary, which was another setback for Delhi. The South African, who has been DC’s best bowler this season, had to be taken to the hospital after hitting the back of his head on the ground. As a result, he was unable to play rest of the match.
“When we see this kind of scoreboard and miss 24 balls, four overs, it makes a difference. We hope Lungi Ngidi recovers fast and comes back. I cannot comment on more right now,” said Rao.
Senior batsman KL Rahul of Delhi spearheaded the effort with an unbeaten 152, the highest score by an Indian in IPL history.
“Credit goes to KL, the way he handled it. Nobody knows how the pitch behaved, but he kept striking the ball well. The way he played till the last over, hats off. He continued his form.
“In this format, you cannot relax. He took responsibility as a senior player and you saw the difference this year in what he can bring. I am happy for him. We could not get the win, but we will come back strong next match,” he added.
Australia pacer Mitchell Starc is eligible for the May 1 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur, according to Rao.
“Cricket Australia has given a report. From 1st May onwards, he is available. We will wait and see the combination,” Rao said.
This means that Starc will not play at home on May 27 versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the reigning champions.
He claimed five wickets and 14 wickets at an economy rate of 10.16 and an average of 26.14 for DC last season.
