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Delhi Capitals need to avoid another second home defeat. Rajasthan Royals want a momentum shift led by their out-of-form big-hitters. Who’ll prevail on a flat pitch with no support for their strengths?
Delhi Capitals skipper, Axar Patel (L) and Rajasthan Royals captain, Sanju Samson (R) – AFP Image.
It has been the story of this IPL 2025 season. After everything, the buck always stops at home advantage.
Delhi Capitals (DC) won their first four matches of the season. Although two of them were technically at their second ‘home’ in Vizag, their streak was broken when they reached the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi as Mumbai Indians stunned them with an exceptional bowling and fielding performance to steal a 12-run win.
What’s it with hosting games, you ask? The answer is quite complicated and differs according to the team and their venues, but for Delhi, it’s simple: three of their four wins came in matches where no team even reached 185 in an innings, and their home immediately saw MI put up 205/5.
Axar Patel’s excellent, well-rounded side is more suitable for games where bowlers come into play and can use the pitch to dictate things. Kotla used to be a slow turner and has been drastically transformed into a high-scoring highway, which, combined with its short boundaries, makes it as good as it gets for batters.
On Wednesday, Delhi have the perfect chance to keep that home loss to an aberration and get a quick turnaround. They are hosting Rajasthan Royals (RR), a side with similar troubles — full of quality fast-bowlers and match-winning spinners who aren’t getting enough opportunities to showcase their talent on the flat pitches — which has won two matches from six and is languishing at eighth.
Thanks to the BCCI, bowlers have something to cheer about and build on: they are now getting a second ‘old’ ball after the 12th over to fight the dewy conditions. Plus, because the use of saliva has now been allowed, bowlers are able to tail the ball better, both in the powerplay and at the death.
“It definitely helps,” DC pacer Mohit Sharma said on the eve of the match. “Against Mumbai, the ball was quite wet by the 12th over. But Karn came in with the second ball and started spinning. It creates a difference till the 15th-16th over. So if I am getting that ball, I’ll always prefer to bowl the yorker because the ball is drier and I can execute it better… As for saliva, it definitely helps because it’s much heavier than sweat,” he added.
It’s yet another evolution for the IPL, and this match, with two quality bowling sides going against each other in a place that has nothing for them, should provide a good sample of what’s in store for the future.
For RR, their batting needs to step up big time. None of their retained players and star batters — like Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal — have been able to put up match-winning performances like they were doing last season. There have been glimpses of good form, but the full picture still seems quite mundane.
The best knock seen from them, and perhaps the only sign of hope against the group of big-hitting beasts, was Nitish Rana’s 81 (36) against Chennai Super Kings. But his form has been subdued, and RR hasn’t helped his case by tinkering with his batting spot to maintain their left-hand-right-hand combination.
For instance, in the last match, he batted at number six and they still scored 173, which seemed sub-par for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who chased it in the 18th over. It epitomises the team’s issues this season.
“If you had watched matches after this, you wouldn’t have asked this question,” Rana said at the presser when asked about his form. “Left-right combination is important. In the last match, I was asked to bat at number 3, I’ll continue to do what the team demands… 60-70-80 are just milestones. For me, it’s more about how the team can get 2 points. All we are talking about in the group is that the same guy can’t perform every day. It is important to win. There are a lot of positives. We’ll learn and do better.
For DC, Axar has had it pretty easy at the start, but he’d know that momentum can slip away like dry sand in this tournament. Does he have it in him to lead the team through the slips?
“I have been playing with him for a long time and know him personally,” Mohit said. “It’s not like he has changed anything since becoming the captain. He’s the kind of person who keeps the environment light and grounded. He doesn’t think too much about the result. He leaves the planning to the management. Yes, we have lost, but he is keeping it very simple, which helps us as fast bowlers because we already have so much to worry about!”
Axar and Samson had a nice five-minute chat in isolation on the sidelines of their teams’ final practice session before the match. Their teams are looking at them to give them a new direction and change paradigms as Dilli awaits to reward whichever team shows more dil.
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
