Delhi Daredevils and Australia all-rounder James Hopes followed his appointment to the captaincy of Sheffield Shield's Four-Day Team of the Year with a more pragmatic assignment in Chennai. Thrust into the role following Virender Sehwag's exit from the IPL, Hopes led the team in its recent defeat at Chepauk. He later took questions on the state of the Daredevils camp now that another empty-handed campaign was drawing to a close, with only a last place to show for nearly two months of cricket.
Despite the sorry situation of the team, Hopes hoped for sunshine and laughter for the side and said there was something to look forward to in the remainder of the tournament.
Better combination
“We are trying to put in place a combination for the next year. At the same time, we still want to win. We want to make it difficult for other teams,” he said.
A squad with only a token representation of local talent, Daredevils limped to defeats at the start of the season. Sehwag brought in wins in the middle but the team hit rock bottom once the key opener-skipper bit the dust with a shoulder injury. The dip in form of David Warner also deprived the team of partnerships at the top of the order.
Hopes said that the proximity of the IPL to the World Cup did no favours to the players. “In any sport, it takes time to gel. With the World Cup finishing so close to the start of the IPL, that perhaps did not help our cause in the first few games. We struggled to perform.”
Sehwag's loss
Coach Greg Shipperd said Sehwag's loss had been a major factor in Delhi's decline. “Viru's loss was a huge blow for us. He was the Orange cap holder and fired in each of the matches we won. He was missed as a captain as well for his run scoring abilities.”
The coach enumerated some of the problems that plagued the team and defended the $1.9 million Irfan Pathan, who was bumped up the order in a few matches, saying the all-rounder had “prepared well”.
Challenge ahead
“There have been a number of players who were given chances but didn't come forward. Warner started the tournament very well but drifted off in the last five outings. Irfan deserves more opportunities since he prepared very well. Roelof van der Merwe was economical; Venugopal Rao was good in patches, he can bowl decent off-spin too. Shahbaz Nadeem, the finger spinner, did all right. In a way, we are quite happy with the bowling group, but we know there is a huge challenge ahead of us.”
With all lost, Shipperd said the “experienced and determined” stand-in skipper, Hopes, would use the remaining matches to align the bunch with an eye on the next season.
“Hopes is an experienced campaigner and his determination will help us end the tournament as well as we can. We did not have a successful campaign, but we have to make sure that we move forward as a squad.”
