IPL 2018 : 3 tactical mistakes made by Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils are the only team to have not played in the final of the IPL. This year they had changed their and captain and coach but their position in the points table is the same. It’s again the same story for Delhi as they have lost 4 out of the first 5 games. So, let’s look at the three tactical mistakes made by Delhi Daredevils in this season.

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#3 Rahul Tewatia being sent up the order

In almost all the matches Delhi has played, they have sent Rahul Tewatia before some of their top batsmen. In the first game, he came before the likes of Dan Christian and Chris Morris. Morris and Christian are better strikers than Tewatia, so this move hardly made sense.

May be they were trying to go for the left-right combination, but they have to send their premier batsmen in at all costs. In T20s your best batsmen must face the bulk of the balls. But this is exactly what DD are not allowing to happen. They are keeping a powerful hitter like Morris in the dugout and he is being wasted as his batting skills are not being used. DD have to quickly understand that this move is not working and they have to send Morris before Tewatia in the next game.

#2 Vijay Shankar – What is his role in the side?

Vijay Shankar has bowled just 1 over in the 5 games so far

The question asked in the heading is a valid question. What is Vijay Shankar’s role in the team? He is not batting much and not even bowling. Maybe Gambhir is not confident about Shankar’s bowling, but then, why is he even in the playing eleven?

If Shankar is playing as a pure batsmen then he has to bat higher up the order. Tewatia is batting ahead of Shankar. Just before the IPL he played for India in the Nidahas Trophy and consistently bowled 4 overs every game. In this IPL he has just bowled a solitary over against KKR giving away 12 runs. DD have to find a good role for him pretty quickly or replace him by some other batsmen or all-rounder.

#1 Amit Mishra – An IPL legend left out of the team

Amit Mishra has taken 3 hat-tricks in the IPL

Amit Mishra has been an IPL legend. He is the highest Indian wicket taker in the history of the IPL. He has taken 134 wickets at an economy rate of 7.45 which is absolutely brilliant for any leg-spinner. He has taken 3 hat-tricks in the IPL, which no other bowler has taken. DD showed faith in him and bought him back in the auction.

But then why he is not playing? Yes he got hammered in the first game against KXIP, where KL Rahul smashed him in the powerplay. But still that can be a one-off incident. He is too good a player to not perform consistently. DD are definitely missing a trick by not picking an IPL legend. Let’s hope that he gets some games and performs well.