IPL 2020 | Delhi Capitals’ Indian batting core outstanding but also a weakness, reckons Aakash Chopra

On Thursday, Delhi Capitals will take on Mumbai Indians in what will prove to a litmus test for them in the first Qualifier of the IPL 2020 in Dubai. Mumbai will be favourites to win the match, given that they have already beaten Delhi twice this season, with also Shreyas Iyer's men having had a terrible run at the end compared to Mumbai's string of wins in the league stage. Their terrible run can be attributed largely to their batting, which has failed to deliver in the recent past. 

However, former India opening batsman Aakash Chopra reckoned that Delhi’s Indian batting core is outstanding, glittered with top names of India team, which becomes a huge asset for them as they don’t require any overseas player in the top 5.  

“[Indian batting core] It has failed in between. I totally get it if you feel how it is a strength. But it is a strength when you can have Prithvi Shaw with Shikhar Dhawan, then Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. No team has 5 Indian top-order batsmen, this team doesn’t need an overseas player in the top 5. So if you see that way, the Indian batting core is outstanding,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube Channel. 

Delhi’s Indian core includes their opener Prithvi Shaw, who began the tournament with some attractive knocks but has failed to deliver since, scoring just 30 runs in last 6 innings. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, hasn’t looked like himself and has struggled to get going this season. Captain Shreyas Iyer has scored 421 runs this season but has not been as impactful as he would have liked. 

Pointing out the lapses in Delhi’s batting, Chopra stated that the main weakness of the Delhi based team has been the dip in the form of their main batsmen. 

“The weakness is that some of the players have had a slight dip in form in the last little while. I am a little worried about Prithvi Shaw that he goes on playing his shots and plays a high-risk game, doesn’t bother about getting out but he is getting out more often,” Chopra said.

“Rishabh Pant hasn’t really looked himself. So these are the two biggest concerns. Shreyas Iyer has scored more than 400 runs. But the impact knocks from him have been far and few between. So I am expecting more as the standards are high for him.”