DC’s assistant coach Shane Watson supported young opener Prithvi Shaw after his yet another unsuccessful outing in the 2023 IPL match against RCB on April 15. He defended Shaw, remarking that players the caliber of him cannot be found so easily. After DC was asked to chase 175 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Shaw was dismissed in the first over for a duck via a direct hit from Anuj Rawat, who ran him out off a difficult single. This latest failure put the 23-year-old on a tally of 15 as his highest score from five innings in the 2023 tournament, and he has been dismissed twice without managing to score. Watson commented at the post-match conference:
DC’s assistant coach Shane Watson supported young opener Prithvi Shaw after his yet another unsuccessful outing in the 2023 IPL match against RCB on April 15. He defended Shaw, remarking that players the caliber of him cannot be found so easily. After DC was asked to chase 175 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Shaw was dismissed in the first over for a duck via a direct hit from Anuj Rawat, who ran him out off a difficult single. This latest failure put the 23-year-old on a tally of 15 as his highest score from five innings in the 2023 tournament, and he has been dismissed twice without managing to score. Watson commented at the post-match conference:
“Prithvi came off after sitting for 20 overs until the impact player rules came in. Otherwise, he would be out there running around, ready to take off and run that a little bit faster. Prithvi is as skilled as any other better in India. And everyone has seen that from the time he made his Test debut. The biggest thing for him is just to be able to allow himself to access the skills with no fear of making a mistake or getting out.
“He can take down the best bowlers in the world and in all conditions. A player like Prithvi does not just fall out of a tree.”
“The way they are executing is not going as per the plan”: Watson
Despite the best efforts of Manish Pandey, who scored 50 off 38 balls, the Delhi Capitals could not chase down the 175-run total against RCB, suffering their fifth consecutive loss. Watson expressed disappointment with the team’s lack of ability to follow through on the game plan. He stated:
“Unfortunately, we were not able to put together a good batting inning. Our biggest issue at this point in time is losing wickets in the first six overs and then consistently losing wickets. We were not able to put a partnership together and get some momentum, especially on a ground like Chinnaswamy; if you can set a platform here, you can score a lot of runs in the last 10 overs.
“We just are not executing well enough with the bat to be able to get through with the best bowlers with a brand-new ball. We are working with individuals … and right now, just the way they are executing is not going as per the plan. They are not getting through the first 10-15 balls to be able to set a platform for their own innings.”