Delhi Daredevils are languishing in the bottom half of the standings after six defeats from nine matches, but captain Virender Sehwag is still optimistic about his side’s chances of making it to the play-offs of the ongoing Indian Premier League.
The dashing opener, however, said for that to happen, the Delhi outfit will have to play out of their skins in their remaining five matches.
“It’s difficult but not impossible (qualifying for the play-offs). In one of the previous IPL, Deccan (Chargers) won five in a row and qualified so there is no reason why can’t we do a similar thing. But we will have to play really well to give us any chance,” Sehwag told reporters after Delhi slumped to a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Kochi Tuskers Kerala here last night.
Sent into bat at a sporting Ferozeshah Kotla wicket, Delhi struggled to post a mediocre 140 for six and then, lacklustre display from their bowlers helped Kochi overwhelm the target with five overs to spare.
A good start from Sehwag has been pivotal to Daredevils’ success in this edition of the tournament and the right-hander admitted that when he and his opening partner David Warner fire, the Delhi outfit looks a completely different side.
He said the fall of early wickets played a crucial role in Daredevils’ loss.
“If I and Warner give a good start, we are a different side. But we didn’t make enough runs today. It was a good wicket and we should have made 160-170.
“We lost early wickets. I and Warner got out early and then the pressure fell on the middle—order,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag admitted that Daredevils’ batting revolves around him but also said that there are good enough players in the team.
“You can say that,” he said when asked whether his performance was crucial to the Daredevils success in the tournament.
“But there are good batsmen in the side who can score runs. Venu (Y Venugopal Rao) has been scoring frequently. It happens when you lose a couple of early wickets.”
He also backed his bowlers irrespective of their outing against Kochi.
“It happens when you are defending a small total and especially when the opposition batsmen come out hard on you,” Sehwag said.
