IPL 2020 | Delhi look like a non-dynamic side without Rishabh Pant, asserts Tom Moody
Pant missed the MI encounter due to injury
|@ IPL T20
Former SRH coach Tom Moody is of the opinion that the Delhi Capitals batting line-up lacks dynamism without the presence of Rishabh Pant, who missed Sunday’s MI encounter due to injury. Moody also noted that it was bizarre that Delhi have no backup Indian wicket-keeper who they can turn to.
Known for their strength in depth, an injury to Rishabh Pant has exposed a chink in Delhi’s armour that, until yesterday, went unnoticed. Pant having to sit out the Mumbai Indians game due to an injury he picked up in the KKR encounter meant that the Capitals had to draft both Ajinkya Rahane and Alex Carey into the side, owing to them not having a back-up Indian wicket-keeper in their ranks.
The removal of Hetmyer, who scored a fine 45 in his last game, coupled with the absence of Pant, sucked the firepower out of the Delhi side and the same was evident through their batting display on Sunday, wherein they posted a modest, below-par total of 163 on an excellent Abu Dhabi wicket.
Reflecting on the changes, former SRH coach Tom Moody noted that DC’s batting lacked dynamism without the presence of Pant. Moody, who coached SRH to the title in 2016, reckoned that having pedestrian T20 players like Dhawan and Rahane could hurt the side in the long run.
“To me, Delhi without Pant looks like a completely different side. Not just the way the team looks from a balance point of view, but also from a dynamic point of view. To me it lacks that real sharp edge,” Moody said on ESPN Cricinfo’s ‘T20 Time-out’.
“You’ve got in the top four Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, two players who are pedestrian T20 players. They are good T20 cricketers, but I mean pedestrian because they are not dynamic players - they are not like your Pants or Shaws or Iyers who will go after the bowling.”
The in-form Hetmyer could very well have kept his place in the side had Delhi had an Indian wicket-keeper at their disposal, but Alex Carey being the only alternative meant that the West Indian had to miss out on selection. Moody felt that it was bizarre that Delhi did not purchase an Indian wicket-keeper as a backup and claimed that they have pushed themselves into a corner by opting to have an overseas player as the only viable backup.
“Remarkable that Delhi don’t have a backup Indian wicket-keeper. I totally understand that it’s good to have an overseas wicket-keeper batsman as an option, but not to have an Indian backup option is very, very unusual.
“Because what it does is put you under enormous pressure to make adjustments with your overseas selections; you’ve only got four overseas players you can move your pieces around. So it is a very, very unusual situation, particularly given the number of Indian wicket-keeper batsmen available.”
Post the side's defeat, skipper Shreyas Iyer confirmed that Pant will miss at least one more week of action due to the injury he is currently carrying.
