Delhi Daredevils finds itself at the bottom of the points table and as the battle for playoff berths gets hotter, its captain Virender Sehwag realises that the task of getting into the top four may be a very difficult one.
“None of our plans are working,” said Sehwag, after the loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi on Thursday night. A couple of days before that, he slammed the pitch at his home ground after a loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore saying his repeated pleas for a green-top track had been ignored.
As Daredevils gets ready for Saturday evening's game against Kochi Tuskers Kerala here, Sehwag will perhaps find some company to share his thoughts with in the home captain Mahela Jayawardene too.
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Two days ago, Jayawardene also held the pitch partly responsible for the Tuskers' loss to Deccan Chargers. And against an inspired Ishant Sharma he found none of his plans working too.
The Kochi wicket, however, is likely to be an even pitch, which will favour both batsmen and bowlers.
The late-night games and early-morning flights mean that the players are often a weary lot. The Delhi boys are a classic case. After a near-midnight finish, they had to catch an early morning flight to Kochi on Friday.
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“They had just about three hours sleep in Delhi before catching their flight. They are all asleep. They will not go for nets,” said a team source. .
In that sense, Tuskers will be a much fresher lot with its stars enjoying a two-day rest.
The team's batting, hugely dependent on Brendon McCullum and Jayawardene, has been a worry in the last couple of games but the captain is not likely to tinker with the combination much.
But the bowling looks a lot stronger than Delhi's.
Delhi has had problems both with its batting and bowling and, as one saw on Thursday night, the team tends to lose its steel under pressure at the finish.