Desperate times for Hyderabad and Delhi (Preview)

A win percentage of 33 is just not good enough for any team in the IPL to qualify to the next stage. Both Delhi and Hyderabad have an identical record, only three wins in nine outings. With five games left for both of them, they are getting to a point of no return. The big picture is that both teams are desperate for a win and the loser of the match would virtually have to win every match in the league phase and still not be sure for a spot in the last four.

The home team have a fairly good side on paper but that talent has been put to use sparingly. They have been good only in patches, often failing to capitalize on strong performance in one department and lacking intensity elsewhere. Although their bowling which boasts of some seriously good players, has shown spark here and there but the batting has been bad and their fielding at best can be described as pathetic.

They two matches Hyderabad lost to Chennai and Kolkata were winnable. Against Dhoni’s men, they let the match slip at critical moments as the intensity wasn’t there. Against Kolkata, they were in control half-way through the first innings but a series of dropped chances let their opponents virtually bat them out of the contest. So the first priority for Hyderabad fielders would be to get rid of the butter on their fingers.

Another headache for the home team, Batting has to do more. The captain Kumar Sangakkara is under too much pressure to perform with the bat. There have been few individual performances but never has the batting fired in unison. Craig White’s form is going from bad to worse, so JP Duminy may take his position. In bowling, Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma have lacked fire barring that fifer for Ishant.

Their opponents, Delhi also have a similar tale to tell. Batting heavily depends on the openers and whenever they fail, the runs haven’t come. Venugopal Rao played some fighting knocks but there hasn’t been enough support for him. Big signing Irfan Pathan in all fairness has disappointed with the ball. So has pacer Umesh Yadav.

Delhi’s one dimensional bowling attack hasn’t helped matters either. The inclusion of Roelof van der Merwe has been a refreshing change especially on the turning pitches.

HYDERABAD

Players who can make impact…

Ishant Sharma…..The lanky pacer bowled one of the finest spells in the history of IPL against Kochi and won the match for his team. But, the magic has to be recreated if they want to progress further.

K Sangakkara….He can change gears while batting as smoothly as a high end sports car. But, it seems the weight of captaincy is affecting his batting as he has a string of low scores to his name. Now is the time to perform or perish.

SQUAD

Akash Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, DR Teja, Harmeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Ishank Jaggi, Ishant Sharma, Jaydev Shah, JP Duminy, Juan Theron, K Sangakkara (c)(wk), Kedar Devdhar, Manpreet Gony, Michael Lumb, Pragyan Ojha, Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal.

DELHI

Players who can make impact…

Irfan Pathan…..There was a time when Pathan’s banana swing at a lively pace was a nightmare for openers but many years down the line he is about to become like any other trundler with no swing and harmless pace. His batting has however improved vastly and can match the older Pathan (Yusuf) in big hitting.

David Warner… He can smash the ball to all parts of the park but hasn’t done that on a regular basis for Delhi. He was retained by the franchise to do the same and the Warner fireworks are surely overdue.

SQUAD

Aaron Finch, Aavishkar Salvi , Ajit Agarkar, Ajit Chandila, Andrew McDonald , Ashok Dinda , Colin Ingram, David Warner, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Matthew Wade (wk), Morne Morkel, Naman Ojha (wk), Prashant Naik, Rajesh Pawar, Robert Frylinck,Robin Bist, Roelof van der Merwe, Shahbaz Nadeem , Sridharan Sriram , Tejashwi Yadav, Travis Birt, Umesh Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Varun Aaron, Venugopal Rao, Vikas Mishra, Virender Sehwag(c), Vivek Yadav, Yogesh Nagar.