Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly compared their maiden win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season to getting his first run in Test cricket as well. After five consecutive losses, Delhi Capitals got their first points on the board by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by four wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, April 20 as well.
However, sharing his thoughts after Delhi Capitals’ first win in IPL 2023, Ganguly said in an interview posted on iplt20.com: “We are happy to get off the mark. I was sitting there in the dugout and thinking it was like getting my first Test run 25 years ago. You’ve seen a cricket match and I think we were on the luckier side today [Thursday].”
While he was asked if he felt this was Delhi Capitals’ best bowling performance so far this season, Sourav Ganguly replied that the bowlers have been doing their job, claiming that it’s the batting that’s been the problem. He stated:
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“We bowled well before as well this season. Even the game before, at Bangalore, to restrict (RCB) them to 170, I thought we did well. Against Mumbai also, we defended well. So the bowling has been good. These are good pitches, fast outfields, so it’s hard on the bowlers. But the problem is the batting. We need to go back and look at ourselves and see how we can bat better. The bowling was exceptional. The spinners bowled well. The quicks bowled well. [Anrich] Nortje has outstanding for us. Good to see Mukesh [Kumar] and Ishant [Sharma] turn up and do well with the ball.”
However, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav scalped two wickets each in Delhi’s win over KKR. Chasing 128, Delhi slipped from 61/1 to 111/6. But, a steady cameo from Axar (19* off 22) helped them win.
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“We work hard with the boys. Be it Prithvi [Shaw], Manish [Pandey], Mitch Marsh. They have been important players and around for a while for their respective teams. They also know that it’s time to put up a better batting performance,” Sourav Ganguly concluded.
