IPL 6: 20’13’ a bad year, even for the Devils

‘Haunted by the devils’- read the headlines, hinting at the teams that had the misfortune of playing against the Delhi Daredevils during the 2012 Indian Premier League tournament. That precisely translated the strength in which the Daredevil came down on their opponents, and the tremendous toughness that was required to come remotely close to beating them in 2012 IPL edition. But by the looks of it even the word “nightmare” might not fit the best description for the Delhi Daredevils’ profile this time around. The number ‘13’ has turned out to be a bad omen for the ‘Devils’ themselves.

Is it possible for a pool of petrol to burn like oil on water? How else do you explain the startling fact that a team with David Warner, Mahela Jayawardena, Virender Sehwag, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and the under-19 sensation Unmukt Chand ended at the bottom of the IPL table with only 3 wins from 16 matches.

Looking back at the Daredevils performance through the eyes of Sreesanth might raise some suspicions, though it’s only human to speculate. People might scrutinise every motion and action but the blame eventually rests on the dismal performances of individual stars that never gelled together and failed to show consistency of any sort. Speaking of consistency, it is to Sehwag as light is to darkness. With only a single performance to show for the entire season, it is safe to say that the team depending on him is very much like the farmers depending on the rain to reap good harvest.

Chand, the bright starlet might have felt like a bud pressed among thorns; what with all the senior players around him struggling, he might have, out of some inane respect, decided not to hurt their feeling by being the odd one out and excelling. Warner earned some respect by scoring over 400 runs with a healthy average and led the few situations where the Daredevils went down fighting.

Morkel the best bowler from 2012 couldn’t even cross the two figure mark this time and the lone performer in Yadav was not good enough to win it all single-handedly. Lack of good spinners added to the woe as the middle overs were too easy for the opposition and it helped them build partnerships and launch themselves in the death overs.

Delhi’s supporters might wonder whether things would have been different had Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder had played. But cricket at the end of the day is a team game and the ones that are floating at the top of the table like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have made sure they have brought some balance to their teams.