A Tale Of 2 New Captains

From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter Suraj Kori compares the tale of the 2 new captains taking charge - the Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.

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Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings, this match was going to be an encounter of the two of the most explosive batsmen in India! Chennai Super Kings did have the edge with being led by Dhoni whose experience as a captain is far more than Gambhir. But due to injuries both these players had to miss their match. In the absence of Gambhir, Sehwag was touted to take over the captaincy. But considering the fact that he himself had stepped down as the captain at the start of this season, Dinesh Karthik was handed over the responsibility. On the other hand, Raina was the apt choice in the absence of Dhoni as he was the senior-most Indian player in the team.

Both teams appeared weak in the absence of their respective captains. But Chennai was definitely going to miss Dhoni more than Delhi missing Gambhir. That is because Dhoni was the only player in the team who looked in good touch. Matthew Hayden, their most reliable batsmen didn’t show any signs of coming back in form.

Raina and Karthik’s temperament and skills were tested in the match. At the start it seemed that Raina was going to have a tough time with Sehwag continuing from where he left the last match. His intentions were clear from the very first over! He came to the ground with a clear mind set - go out and hit the bowlers as hard as you can. When their chips were almost down, Raina brought the most experienced bowler of his team, Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali did complete justice to his captain’s confidence of bringing him into the attack. He struck twice in a space of 3 deliveries to dismiss Dilshan and Sehwag!

Things seemed quite easy for Raina after Murali’s twin strike. His bowling changes started working and he was able to apply brakes to Delhi’s scoring rate. Even Karthik couldn’t do much and had to walk off early without much impact. Raina not only showed some good captaincy skills, he also showed some great athleticism! He took two brilliant catches and proved why he is one of the best fielders in the Indian team. Firstly he got rid of AB De Villiers and then took a blinder to dismiss Rajat Bhatia. Even after Delhi started off with a flyer Raina managed to pull things back, allowing Delhi to put up only 185!

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Now it was Karthik’s turn to prove that the confidence showed in him by the team was right. But things never went as he would have expected! Well, there is nothing you can do when Hayden gets going. Can’t decide whether it was Karthik’s bad luck or Raina’s good luck that Hayden got back to form! He was hitting the ball around the ground. And the Mongoose bat that he was using made things seem even simpler for him. Karthik had no answer to this knock. Hayden missed out on a century but gave Chennai the strong start they were seeking. By the time he got out the damage was already done! Delhi had to take quick wickets to get back in the match but Raina stepped up and stuck to one end. His innings was icing in the take and took the match away from Delhi…

In this clash of two new captains it was Raina who came out as eventual winner. Chennai got their much wanted win which placed them 3rd in the table. Delhi slipped down two positions and is now at 6th position.

Things You Should Know:

This match saw the debut of the ‘Mongoose bat’ at the hands of Hayden! The bat has a 5cm thick base, 43% longer handle and a 33% shorter blade. The longer handle offers more ‘whip’ and though it weighs the same as a normal bat, the Mongoose feels lighter because the unique handle offers ‘leverage’. With Hayden demolishing the bowlers in this way with this bat you can expect more batsmen to opt for this bat.

Delhi plays their next match against Deccan Chargers on Sun, 21st March. This would be an away match for Delhi and it would start at 4pm.