"The Delhi Capitals are in dire straits" - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's side's defeat against the Gujarat Titans

Aakash Chopra feels the Delhi Capitals (DC) are in a spot of bother in IPL 2022. However, he reckons things could turn around for the franchise once David Warner and Anrich Nortje are available for selection.

The Capitals suffered a 14-run defeat in last night's IPL 2022 encounter against the Gujarat Titans (GT). They seemed to be comfortably placed at one stage, but their innings fell apart after Rishabh Pant's dismissal.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was not too optimistic about the Delhi Capitals' prospects in IPL 2022. He said:

"The Delhi Capitals are in dire straits. Things might change once David Warner and Nortje come but at this point in time, few positives but not a lot of them, unfortunately."

While observing that Rishabh Pant's side lost a match they should have won, the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player questioned Prithvi Shaw's shot selection.

Chopra elaborated:

"It seemed they will win the match till the time Rishabh Pant was at the crease. Actually, they should have won the match, you had Rovman Powell and Rishabh Pant. Prithvi Shaw has gotten out twice while playing the pull. Hit the ball along the ground, why are you hitting it in the sky?"

Aakash Chopra added that the likes of Mandeep Singh and Tim Seifert have not covered themselves in glory in IPL 2022 thus far. He explained:

"Mandeep Singh has played 100 matches, you expect him to score more runs. Tim Seifert has gotten dismissed for low scores in two consecutive matches. Lalit Yadav batted alright although he was going run-a-ball. After that, it seemed the batting was over."

Mandeep failed to open his account against the Mumbai Indians and scored 18 runs off 16 deliveries against the Titans. Seifert has managed 24 runs at the top of the order in the two innings he has played thus far.

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"Khaleel Ahmed is a huge improvement" - Aakash Chopra on the Delhi Capitals' bowling effort

Khaleel Ahmed snared a couple of wickets for the Delhi Capitals [P/C: iplt20.com]

While naming Mustafizur Rahman and Khaleel Ahmed as a couple of positives in the bowling department, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Delhi Capitals' fielding left a lot to be desired. He observed:

"Mustafizur Rahman picks up wickets, which is fantastic. Khaleel Ahmed is a huge improvement, Khaleel is bowling really, really well. The fielding was also not that good, they dropped a couple of catches else Shardul and Axar might have also had wickets in their kitty."

The Capitals opted to field just three overseas players against the Gujarat Titans. The fact that Ahmed was preferred over Lungi Ngidi, their overseas seam-bowling recruit, is ample proof of the confidence Pant and the team management have in the left-arm seamer.