Former Indian fast bowler and Delhi Capitals assistant coach Ajit Agarkar expressed his views on Delhi Capitals’ second straight loss. Agarakar said it is unfair to target and blame one or two players for the team’s loss.
Prithvi Shaw & Sarfraz Khan were made the scapegoats and blamed for the franchise’s two losses against Lucknow Super Giants & Gujarat Titans. According to the former Indian fast bowler, the team failed collectively to deliver against their opponents in both games.
Delhi Capitals on their homecoming at the Arun Jaitley Stadium lost to the defending champions Gujarat Titans by six wickets on 04th April, Tuesday. Gujarat Titans bowling first restricted home team Delhi Capitals to 162/8. Gujarat chased down the target in 18.1 overs. Sai Sudarshan was the stand out performer for GT in the chase.
Prithvi Shaw scored seven runs off five balls, while Sarfraz Khan scored 30 runs off 34. Sarfraz Khan’s strike rate was debatable as the right-hander showed no intent which led to the drop in the scoring rate in the middle overs. He struggled to time the ball on a slightly tricky Delhi track with some turn for the spinners.
Ajit Agarkar backs the youngsters
After Delhi’s second straight loss, the assistant coach of the team Ajith Agarkar was questioned about the performance of Prithvi Shaw and Sarfraz Khan. Ajit Agarkar backing both the youngsters said
“They’ve made runs in the past and, in general, I don’t think we batted well, so why point out one or two guys? None of our top order did well. Really no one got going. I mean, in both games we’ve not begun at the top as other teams have and you can see the difference. So there’s no point picking individuals.
“Collectively, we’ve not been good enough on both nights and you need we need to improve because you’re playing against some good teams. So lot of credit to Gujarat but, you know, we need to improve collectively as a group as a batting unit to get better results.
When questioned about Prithvi Shaw’s struggle against pacers Ajit Agarkar replied:
“So when you’re talking about the Prithvi Shaw, who got a Test 100 on debut and so you’re not talking about someone who’s playing for the first time in the IPL. So when you lose, you don’t lose because of one person or two. As a collective effort, it’s not been good enough tonight.
Agarkar on David Warner’s form
Delhi Capitals captain David Warner despite scoring more than 30 runs in both matches. There are some major concerns about his approach and form. Warner wasn’t at his best and didn’t look fluent in the middle. Ajit Agarkar commented on Warner’s form and wasn’t too worried about the southpaw’s form as he went on to say:
“No, he got a 50 in the previous game. I think today was all right. I mean look like I said before I think collectively I don’t think there’s any different way to approach. He has probably been one of the best players ever in the IPL. So you expect him to get it right.”
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