Mahendra Singh Dhoni finds himself in an unfamiliar position. Two wins from eight matches is not something that the Indian Premier League’s most successful skipper is used to, but his journey with the Rising Pune Supergiants this year has anything but smooth.
On Thursday, he will have further questions to answer when his men face a fast-improving Delhi Daredevils in their IPL-9 match at the Kotla here.
To be fair to Dhoni, his team have been hit by injuries to key players. The explosive Steve Smith and Kevin Pietersen have returned home, while a side strain ended Mitchell Marsh’s IPL. Earlier, Faf du Plessis too was ruled out with a broken finger.
Pune’s problems, however, lie in their weak bowling than the other departments. While Dhoni had earlier admitted that it was a cause of concern, there seem no solutions in sight.
Dhoni’s most trusted man Ravichandran Ashwin has only been good in patches, while Ishant Sharma has leaked runs.
Pune have roped in George Bailey and Usman Khawaja to bolster their batting and the duo are likely to make the XI on the morrow, but Dhoni will need to address the other issues at the earliest.
Delhi are a complete contrast. The team have thrown up unlikely heroes in almost every game — a trend so familiar under the now-defunct Rajasthan Royals with Shane Warne at helm and adapted by the then-RR and now-DD mentor Rahul Dravid.
If Quinton de Kock set the stage on fire with IPL-9’s first hundred, Karun Nair and Chris Morris exploded in the following matches. Last week, it was the relatively unknown Sam Billings who made his presence felt with a 34-ball 54 in his debut IPL game.
Big-hitting Carlos Brathwaite, West Indies World T20 triumph hero last month, revealed that the team’s culture of music, harmony and a calm dressing room was providing desired results. And there is no denying that Delhi have revelled under Dravid and new skipper Zaheer Khan.
The veteran pacer has led with belief and has given the youngsters a lot of freedom.
Also, the think-tank needs to be lauded for reading pitch conditions well and fielding a combination that delivers as required.
With the playoffs nearing, Delhi will be keen to carry on in the same vein and look to make the next round.
Dhoni too will have his eyes on the playoffs, something he has never missed. He though will need a plenty of firepower and gutsy performances from his troops to realise that dream.
