From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter Issac John pens his observations on his favourite IPL team, Deccan Chargers.
Throughout the tournament, unlike any other team, DC could never claim their rights to what could be called a home venue. They began in Mumbai, moved to Cuttack and then to Nagpur. In between they also traveled extensively for their away games and by the time you read this, they must be settling themselves in Dharamshala. Make no mistake, they’re the team who have traveled the maximum and have had the absurd ‘advantage’ of playing a home game against Mumbai at Navi Mumbai. To call it erratic scheduling, is putting it rather mildly.
After the entire circus they must’ve been relieved to be playing in Nagpur for two games at a stretch for a change. To an extent, it seemed to have helped the team. The crowd is not entirely hostile. The track evidently suited fringe players like Harmeet Singh and Mohnish Mishra as both came into the party in the match against RCB. And with some help from the big men in the team (except Gilly, who I still suspect will win us a game on his own) the DC boat is still afloat, albeit still a bit shaky.
The resurgence clearly began in the match against RCB in Bangalore when they chased a target of 184 when most didn’t give them a chance. Thereafter, their confidence got the boost that they desperately needed and probably went a notch higher when DC’s modest bowling restricted a mighty Chennai batting lineup to 138. Harsha Bhogle, on-air in the match against Royals at Nagpur kept stressing the fact of how DC needed a domestic player to do well, like Naman Ojha. That domestic player that seemed to emerge after numerous trial and error selection attempts was T. Suman who knocked his second confident fifty in a row.
Once that domestic-player cog in the wheel came good, DC must’ve felt like they were playing with 11 players on the field and that reflected in what was probably DC’s best performance as a team this season in their second match against RCB. In a match that reminded us fans of last year’s final, DC again lost Gilly in the very first over for nought and yet went on to post a total above 150 to give their bowlers something to fight for. Pragyan and Harmeet Singh thereafter made the RCB batsmen work hard for runs and since inevitably batsmen don’t like to slug it out in this format, it was a matter of time when they perished.
While the turning point was undoubtedly Harmeet Singh’s riskily cunning leg-cutter that crashed Uthappa’s stumps, the other moment that must’ve sent a shiver down the RCB spine was the RP Singh beauty to Ross Taylor in the 15th over. Just a ball before, Taylor was almost caught plumb in front but for the umpire ruling it in favor of the batsman. Taylor ran two leg-byes and in some way wrote his own epitaph as the next ball zoomed under his back lift and disturbed the base of the leg stump. RP came back to bowl the 17th over and gave away only 4 runs with a wicket. And once Harmeet bowled the 19th over that saw him pick 2 wickets for only 1 run, RCB had lost all hopes of a comeback.
Unfortunately, the spot that DC find themselves in, they can only celebrate, if at all, on April 18th. Till then, no victory is good enough and as the cliché goes every run is precious and every wicket is crucial.
After the entire circus they must’ve been relieved to be playing in Nagpur for two games at a stretch for a change. To an extent, it seemed to have helped the team. The crowd is not entirely hostile. The track evidently suited fringe players like Harmeet Singh and Mohnish Mishra as both came into the party in the match against RCB. And with some help from the big men in the team (except Gilly, who I still suspect will win us a game on his own) the DC boat is still afloat, albeit still a bit shaky.
The resurgence clearly began in the match against RCB in Bangalore when they chased a target of 184 when most didn’t give them a chance. Thereafter, their confidence got the boost that they desperately needed and probably went a notch higher when DC’s modest bowling restricted a mighty Chennai batting lineup to 138. Harsha Bhogle, on-air in the match against Royals at Nagpur kept stressing the fact of how DC needed a domestic player to do well, like Naman Ojha. That domestic player that seemed to emerge after numerous trial and error selection attempts was T. Suman who knocked his second confident fifty in a row.
Once that domestic-player cog in the wheel came good, DC must’ve felt like they were playing with 11 players on the field and that reflected in what was probably DC’s best performance as a team this season in their second match against RCB. In a match that reminded us fans of last year’s final, DC again lost Gilly in the very first over for nought and yet went on to post a total above 150 to give their bowlers something to fight for. Pragyan and Harmeet Singh thereafter made the RCB batsmen work hard for runs and since inevitably batsmen don’t like to slug it out in this format, it was a matter of time when they perished.
While the turning point was undoubtedly Harmeet Singh’s riskily cunning leg-cutter that crashed Uthappa’s stumps, the other moment that must’ve sent a shiver down the RCB spine was the RP Singh beauty to Ross Taylor in the 15th over. Just a ball before, Taylor was almost caught plumb in front but for the umpire ruling it in favor of the batsman. Taylor ran two leg-byes and in some way wrote his own epitaph as the next ball zoomed under his back lift and disturbed the base of the leg stump. RP came back to bowl the 17th over and gave away only 4 runs with a wicket. And once Harmeet bowled the 19th over that saw him pick 2 wickets for only 1 run, RCB had lost all hopes of a comeback.
Unfortunately, the spot that DC find themselves in, they can only celebrate, if at all, on April 18th. Till then, no victory is good enough and as the cliché goes every run is precious and every wicket is crucial.
Set as favorite
Comments (0)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide commentsWrite comment
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
