IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals' Journey To IPL Playoffs Was Great — Where Did They Go Wrong
Delhi Capitals played all the league matches fearlessly and were one of the leading contenders for the IPL 2021 title. So what went wrong in the last two games of the IPL playoffs?
New Delhi: In the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals (DC) lost by 3 wickets to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Earlier, Delhi were defeated by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first qualifier. With this, Delhi's dream of winning its first IPL title shattered. Now the question is how the Delhi team, which started in a great manner in IPL 2021, finally faltered at the final stages. How did Rishabh Pant, who led the team throughout the tournament, missed on the last two matches. Let's explore
Delhi Capitals' Journey To IPL Playoffs
Delhi beat Chennai by 7 wickets in their first match of the 14th season of the IPL, signaling other teams to not underestimate them. Delhi topped the points table by winning 10 of the 14 league matches.
Aggressive bowling like Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje, and Kagiso Rabada and batsmen like Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, and Stoinis helped the team make it to the playoffs with ease.
Rishabh Pant was given the command of the DC team due to Shreyas Iyer's injury. Pant not only set a good example of his captaincy in the IPL but people saw him as the "future captain of the Indian team" and the veterans praised his leadership skills.
Delhi Capitals played almost all the league matches fearlessly and were one of the leading contenders for the IPL 2021 title.
Under Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals took on CSK in the first qualifier of IPL 2021. In the IPL playoffs encounter, Delhi Capitals lost to Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling battle.
Batting first, Delhi scored 172 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Chennai while chasing a stiff target lost 6 wickets and won the match in the last overall thanks to vintage MS Dhoni.
Pant's Judgement Errors
DC skipper wasted four balls during the fag end of DC's innings. On the last ball of the 19th over, he refused to take a single so that he could be on strike in the next over. Pant tried to slog on the first three balls of the 20th over but was not able to dispatch anything to the boundary nor did he try to take a run while Tom Curran was at the other end, also known as a big hitter. Even if few more runs were scored on four balls, the result of the match could have been different.
While bowling second, Pant gave Tom Curran the responsibility to bowl the last over. With Dhoni on the crease and one over left, death over specialist Kagiso Rabada could have been trusted as he had one over left. This came as a shocking decision for fans because even after having such an experienced bowler, the ball was handed to a lesser experienced player.
What Went Wrong In IPL 2021 Qualifier 2
In the second qualifier, Delhi got off to a great start against KKR. But the middle-order fizzled out. Except for Dhawan and Iyer, no one else could score more than 20.
In the second innings, Delhi Capitals bowlers were unable to take wickets early on. The bowlers returned in the final over but it was too late. Shockingly, the Delhi bowlers have taken 2 wickets more than 10 times during the powerplay in all IPL 2021 matches.
Under Rishabh's captaincy, it was a brilliant journey for Delhi Capitals. As the team bowed out it appears Rishabh Pant was not able to handle the pressure of big matches. These last two encounters showed a lack of experience on his side and a hard swallowed lesson.
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