Delhi Capitals completed another win at the Brabourne Stadium to leapfrog Sunrisers Hyderabad to fifth position in the IPL 2022 points table. The Rishabh Pant-led side are now strong contenders to finish in the top four with Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are two points ahead at No.4, having played one game more. In an interesting game, we saw both sides make substantial forced changes to their respective XIs. Here are a few burning questions from the clash.
Why SRH erred by going back to Umran Malik in the powerplay and death
Umran Malik has bowled only four overs inside the powerplay in his IPL career. Each of them have gone for over 10 runs. On Thursday, it panned out the exact same way as Umran Malik leaked 21 runs again after being brought on to bowl in the fourth over to David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, two players adept at playing high pace and bounce.
It was a bizarre way to use Umran, especially given the success he has had in the middle overs role. In IPL 2022, Umran has bowled 33 of his 38 overs in the middle overs phase, taking 12 of his 15 wickets here. He goes at a rate of 8.21 in the middle overs and is mighty effective in taking wickets, taking one every 16.5 balls. Given this, it was odd to see Umran bowled for one over in the powerplay and another in the death, where he again went for 19 runs.
Why Shreyas Gopal shouldn’t have bowled to the two left-handers
Shreyas Gopal made rapid strides as a T20 spinner a few years back, especially when his dismissals of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore while playing for Rajasthan Royals became a discussion point. However, since 2020, Gopal has fallen off the perch with the focus shifting to high-speed wrist spinners. This was his first game of IPL 2022, that too only because Washington Sundar was unavailable.
Gopal took 20 wickets in the 2019 IPL season, clocking an average of 17.35 and an economy rate of 7.22. But since 2020, the leg spinner has struggled to maintain control and deceive batters. He took 10 wickets in 2020, but went for runs with the average shooting up to over 40. In 2021, he played only three games as a result and didn’t take a single wicket.
Here, he was tasked at bowling to two left-handers who are good against spin. This was a huge ask of someone who had struggled last season in the league. Against Pant, Gopal conceded three sixes and a four, but had the last laugh when the Delhi skipper played a full toss back on to his stumps. Notably, Gopal bowled his remaining two overs well, but Sunrisers should question if it was the right way to use an out-of-confidence leg-spinner.
How Rovman Powell’s season turned around
Rovman Powell’s success is as much his own as Delhi Capitals’ management’s. Having started the season in ordinary fashion with five under par knocks, calls to drop Rovman Powell from the XI flooded in, but Delhi stuck to their guns and decided to persist with Powell. The returns are starting to show and how!
In his first five matches, Powell averaged a mere 6.5 while striking the ball at a rate of 100. This has completely changed around in the last four games where he has scored at a rate of 197 and averages 85 with the bat.
The difference is in the bowlers he has faced. Delhi struggled to use him right, and the pace hitter ended up facing spin in 75% of the deliveries in his first five matches. In the last four innings, he has faced more than 50% of his deliveries against pace, and has thrived. He strikes at a rate of 200 against pace in these four matches and is becoming a threatening finisher down the order.
How can SRH maximise the form of Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram
Sunrisers Hyderabad have two batters who are in quite good form, but aren’t able to use them to their fullest because they unfortunately walk in at No.4 and No.5 respectively. With Kane Williamson struggling for impact at the top and wasting balls, Markram and Pooran’s entry points are often delayed and the momentum they build is often gone to waste because SRH are playing catch up after the early overs.
The only solution to this is to bat Kane Williamson in the middle-order and push Markram to the top. It serves two things. For starters, it maximises the form of Markram, who is a phenomenal hitter of pace and prefers to not face too much of spin, although he has massively improved his spin game. Secondly, Williamson, unlike in the powerplay, is good in using the field to his advantage when it’s spread and can also accelerate in the death overs. Since 2020, Williamson strikes at a rate of 168.5 in the end overs and can be valuable in this phase too.
Pooran and Williamson can float in the middle-order with Pooran walking out if it’s spin operating and Williamson taking charge of pace.
Why Khaleel Ahmed is putting together a special season
Khaleel Ahmed has always been a genuine wicket-taker in this format, but for the first time, the left-arm quick is appearing really threatening across phases. On Thursday, Khaleel dismissed the dangerous Abhishek Sharma in the powerplay before returning in the middle overs to deceive a well-set Markram with a change of pace delivery.
Among bowlers to bowl more than six overs in the middle this IPL, Khaleel has the best average at 10.0. In nine overs, Khaleel has taken seven wickets and has often been creating big breakthroughs for Delhi in the middle overs phase. Overall, his 14 wickets have come at an exceptional economy rate of 7.86, the best he has ever managed in a season.
By showcasing his value with the new ball, in the middle overs as a change up quick, and in the death, Khaleel is quickly turning into a bankable player for Rishabh Pant. His brilliant season has helped Delhi Capitals cope with the loss of some premier quicks from the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
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