Leadership change may not resolve this issue

This has to be one of the most thrilling IPLs so far. So many matches have gone down to the last over. Then there have also been the phenomenal individual performances, batsmen like Chris Gayle, Shane Watson and bowlers like Rashid Khan, Mayank Markande have boggled our minds.

In the last two days, we saw DD go down yet again, this time in their first home game at the Ferozeshah Kotla. DD’s case in all IPLs has been a curious one. They have just not been able to make a mark; they have tried everything to change that, going for a complete revamp of their team a couple of times, but nothing seems to work.

By all counts, they did a very good job in the auction this time. Punting on Gautam Gambhir as captain seemed a good move; Gambhir’s leadership has been a game changer for KKR in all their successes.

But even that hasn’t worked. The team’s bottom position on the points table at the halfway stage of the tournament needed a reboot, and, as expected, we see Gambhir step down as captain.

I am not sure Gambhir’s leadership was the problem as much as lack of consistent runs from him and others is. So, change of leadership may not resolve the issue as long as their batsmen, especially Glen Maxwell, continue to fail. Also, their bowling cannot be of one solitary performer — Trent Boult. May be not being captain may free up Gambhir the batsman, so good luck to DD with that.

Their loss against Kings XI at Kotla was heartbreaking. It wasn’t a big run chase and it all came down to the final over with two young guns sparring against each other with the match on a knife’s edge.

MUJIB VS SHREYAS

A fascinating revelation came through from that last over. The bowler was winning the battle against the batsman right through the over, but in the end there were still 12 runs scored. Shows how little 12 runs can be to defend in the final overs; it seems you can achieve it even if you are not at your best as a batsman.

MI story has been the story of the IPL so far. They have lost five out of six now. When they had lost four, you could say they were unlucky; these were all losses that came in the final over.

A little nudge in the opposite direction and these could have easily been four wins. But the last one, when they had to chase 120 to win and were all out for 87 would be hard one to recover from.

It would have crushed their confidence and morale as a team. You fear the worst with MI now. If you sit down to find faults with them, there could be a few but I believe this is a good team that’s had a bad run. ‘It’s just one of those things’ would be the most sensible conclusion in this case.