DD vs RPS: Delhi take risk, Pune rewards at Kotla

At the toss, Duminy, without touching upon specifics, merely revealed a few of them had niggles. If the players were of such impactful nature, some other sides would have cajolled them to the field even if they were half-fit. But later, in the press conference, he confided that they were rested as a “precautionary measure”, as the team wanted keep them fresh for the looming play-offs. “Look the first half of the tournament was quite hectic, and we are about to reach the most important phase of the tournament. So we want them to be as fresh as they can be,” he said.

It surely wasn’t a case of taking Pune lightly, more so as Delhi aren’t assured of play-offs, which seems heading to a scramble.

Then, almost contradicting himself, Duminy said the team’s brains trust wanted to try out different combinations and give everybody on the bench enough opportunities.

“We have been trying different combinations, as a result some of them have missed out. So depending on the conditions, we want to give opportunities to everyone. It was the best possible combination on the surface, and after being 20 runs short, we did well enough to take the match to the last over,” he observed.

Among the benched marquee names in the past were Carlos Brathwaite and Imran Tahir. So the strategists must have thought that if they can make substantial contributions, it could be an incentive. With the IPL hitting the business end, when it’s always useful to have several players pushing for one spot. Like, for instance, the haggling between Morris and Brathwaite for the all-rounder spot, or the heckling for the second spinner’s slot between Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Imran Tahir and Pawan Negi.

Tough calls
Whatever be the rationale, Delhi have not been averse to rotating the players, which teams riding prosperity are seldom prone to. In fact, only three have played in all their three matches — Sanju, Karun Nair and Amit Mishra. It’s antithesis to conventional cricketing wisdom. But Delhi have been brave in making tough calls. Such as benching Tahir for five of their eight matches, despite his sub-seven economy rate and and a strike rate and average only second to Amit Mishra. Few other teams would have dared to drop the South African leggie, with his well-storied utility in this form. Despite his three-wicket haul against Gujarat Lions, he found himself being overlooked for the next three games. Or for that matter, Brathwaite, he of those thunderous sixes in the T20 World Cup final.

However, in the process, they have unearthed the hitherto missing links in the team. For example, Sam Billings, a bargain buy (acquired for only Rs 30 lakhs in the auction). The Englishman has furnished them with tangible spunk in the middle order, which has previously looked bereft of ammunition. They had more or less the same kind of steady, busybodies like Karun Nair and JP Duminy rather than one with the powers to destroy bowling attacks. Billings, who is the first-choice wicket-keeper for Kent, a county that has this traditions of producing fine wicketkeepers, needed just one opportunity to give their batting line-up the much-needed menace. Against Pune also, he demonstrated his worth, lifting Delhi from the middle-over slumber with a breezy 24 off 15 balls. Once again, he displayed his terrific bat speed, hand-eye coordination and the sheer audacity to shimmy down the track off arguably the finest off-spinners around, Ravichandran Ashwin. This also ensures that Morris (or Brathwaite or Negi) can be preserved for the late onslaught.

Young Indian batsman Rishabh Pant was another such find. All summer, Delhi have been struggling to find a suitable partner for de Kock. Tried were Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson without any discernible progress. Even if Agarwal and Shreyas were struggling, most other sides could have persisted with either. But Delhi thrust this responsibility on rookie Pant, who in only his third IPL match made an instant impression with a 40-ball 69 against Gujarat Lions. The 18-year-old perished attempting a hideous shot against Pune, the flippancy of youth stamped on it. But in the bigger scheme, Delhi would only benefit from the youngster.

A well-thought out strategy

More importantly, they are not changing for the sake of changing. Moreover, these are not straightforward decisions as it seem. With multiple voices in the room, concessions and compromises are necessary and not a little bit of foresight. Then are deliberations like when and whom do you pick and stick? Is this one ready yet? Is that one talented enough to warrant the hassle and justify the risk? Isn’t he too old?

On the flipside, too many changes might backfire, as it did on Thursday. They missed Zaheer’s guile and experience, Morris’s efficiency and de Kock’s aggression. On the apparent, they might not have gathered any positive at all from the match. But Rahul Dravid and Co would have picked a few fine points, which must have have escaped the laymen’s eyes. And the logic of it will all fall into place, eventually.