Sourav Ganguly, the director of cricket for the Delhi Capitals (DC), has acknowledged that the team needs time to improve as they are a young team. The Capitals have had a disappointing start to IPL 2023, losing all four of their matches so far. The team’s batting performance has been particularly weak, with only David Warner being consistent. Despite scoring runs, the skipper’s below-par strike rate has been a cause for concern.
After the close defeat against the Mumbai Indians on April 11, Ganguly praised Axar Patel’s efforts in helping the Capitals reach a score of over 170 runs. However, he emphasized the need for a collective batting performance from the team in every game.
Ganguly expressed his disappointment over the recent losses, and said,
”The loss certainly hurts, especially because of the way this team has played since 2019. But these things happen in sports. It’s never easy when you lose. There are so many youngsters on our side and we’ll take time to be a good team. We’ll have to bat much better. Axar was absolutely brilliant and that’s why we got a score of above 170. We need others to stand up. Lalit bowled well on the wicket in Delhi. But the most important thing for us is to get together and put runs on the board,” as was quoted by DC’s official website.
Prior to Axar Patel‘s 25-ball 54 against MI, the Delhi Capitals had been struggling to hit boundaries at regular intervals. Despite David Warner scoring 51 runs, he had difficulty with timing for most of his innings. This lack of consistent boundary hitting had been a significant factor in the Capitals’ recent string of defeats in IPL 2023.
Ganguly: “This has happened to everyone”
Sourav Ganguly believes that it’s not uncommon for teams to experience slumps in performance, and he has faith that the Delhi Capitals’ players will be able to improve in their upcoming games. He further said:
“It can only be up from here and hopefully, the young boys will turn up on the high-scoring wicket in Bengaluru. You have to find a way to make a comeback. This has happened to everyone. When you play for a period of time, you will go through such phases. It’s about going back to your rooms, looking at the mirror and asking yourself how can I change.”
The Delhi Capitals will play against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 15 in an away game.