New Delhi: With the Delhi Capitals’ Indian batters like Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, and Yash Dhull struggling to get going against the fast bowlers in IPL 2023, skipper David Warner said the youngsters have to find their way of scoring runs against high-quality pacers.
On Thursday, Sarfaraz and Dhull didn’t feature in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium after failing to get big runs with the bat and their issues against fast bowlers coming to the fore. Shaw, on the other hand, was brought in as an impact player but made only 13 before chopping onto his stumps off leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy.
“We don’t really have too many discussions because you have to back your skills, and I can’t tell people how to bat. You have to actually work it out. If you are going to face bowling, guys who bowl at 150 kmph, you need to have the technique and method to score, and if they are going to keep coming at you and they bowl into your ribcage, you have to find a way to score,” said Warner after the match ended.
In chasing 128 against Kolkata to get their first win of the season and snap a five-game losing streak, Warner showed glimpses of his vintage aggressive self by racing to 45 off 25 balls in the powerplay. He would go on to make 57 off 41 balls, his fourth fifty-plus score of the competition, before Axar Patel took Delhi over the line with four balls to spare.
“For us, it’s about backing yourself and coming out and executing your skills. I felt like my match-ups were there and I’ll take the Power-play on. And we didn’t lose wickets in clumps in the first two overs. So that plays a big role as well.”
“But for me, I felt that I had my rhythm back again, I had a good couple of net sessions. I was probably a bit tentative losing a lot of wickets in the first couple of games but for me, it’s about going out there and just playing like the way I do and the way that I know, and then it’s going to be better off for us and the team,” he added.
Warner signed off by saying the criticism of his strike rate is something which he will never understand, citing the responsibility he had to take on top of the order for Delhi. “We didn’t lose three wickets in a row. There are going to be a lot of critics out there to suggest that I haven’t been batting the way I normally bat.”
“But when you lose three wickets in a row in two overs, and I faced three balls, what can you do? You can really do anything. You have to have some sense of responsibility. Just like in Bangalore, (if) I get out, people would have criticised me getting out but that’s just the game, that’s how it is.”
–IANS