The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 isn’t a season to remember for Delhi Capitals. With just two wins in 8 matches, the David Warner-led side sits bottom of the points table, with the hopes of reaching the playoffs hanging by a thread. Though there remain a number of reasons behind Delhi’s poor show in the 16th edition of the league, the captaincy and batting from Warner have been called out by many as the biggest ones. Launching a scathing attack at the Australian batter, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh put the entire blame for DC’s poor show this season on Warner.
After the Capitals lost Saturday’s match to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 9 runs, Harbhajan said that DC would’ve lost by 50 runs had Warner played 50 balls as all of them would’ve gone to waste. In a video on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan all but ruled out the possibility of DC making a comeback from this position.
“I don’t think they can make a comeback, and the entire reason for that is captain. He didn’t lead the side well, and then his form was an issue. It has been very disappointing. Warner was dismissed earlier today (vs SRH), which is why Delhi came so close. If he had played 50 balls, that would’ve been 50 balls wasted and DC would’ve lost by 50 runs,” Harbhajan said in the video.
Harbhajan was critical of Warner’s strike-rate this season. Though Warner is among the top-scoring batters this season, aggregating 306 runs in 8 matches at an average of 38.5. But, his strike-rate stands at just 118.60.
“Even now, when he comes to presentations, he says about other players’ mistakes. But what have you done? You didn’t show any intent; you scored 300+ runs but look at your strike rate. Warner hasn’t really done justice to his stature this year. His 300 runs are of no use to DC. Warner needs to look in the mirror if he wants to find a reason for DC being at the bottom,” Harbhajan went on to say.
Harbhajan even opined that the Delhi Capitals should give the team’s captaincy to Axar Patel going forward and set the right precedent for the future. With just 6 games to go in the remainder of the league stage of the IPL, Delhi need to win almost all games if they are to remain in the playoffs hunt.
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