We are very hungry to set record right in our home ground, says DD skipper JP Duminy
With Delhi Daredevils having lost nine matches on the trot in the IPL, captain Jean-Paul Duminy is keen to set the record straight when they take on Mumbai Indians at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on Thursday.
Having won two of their five games so far in this edition, Duminy is confident about Delhi’s next three matches at their home turf.
“We are very hungry to set the record right especially in our home ground. We haven’t played well here, so we have three games to set things straight,” said Duminy at the eve of the of their sixth match this season.
“I am very positive with what we have produced. We have won 2 out of 5 and standing at fourth position at the moment and to me that’s not a bad position to be at this point of the tournament. We still have nine games to go and we would like to win predominantly most of them and give ourselves a chance to get into the playoffs.
“But it’s not difficult for me to motivate myself and the team. We have created a good team culture, led by the management, led by Gary. So players are motivated to play for Delhi and win for Delhi, especially on our home ground. We’ll definitely see a different change come tomorrow (Thursday),” the South African added.
Delhi did bounce back with two wins after two opening defeats but the previous loss to defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at home did expose a few of their weaknesses.
Managing just 146 for eight against a lethal KKR bowling attack, the hosts faltered on the bowling front as Gautam Gambhir’s side cantered home in 18.1 overs.
Giving no excuses for the team’s below par showing, Duminy said the side has certainly learnt from their mistakes.
“All of us including myself need to stand up do some performance with the ball. Previous performance wasn’t great but it’s only game and we will take a lot of lessons out of the previous game and set them right, especially in the bowling department tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.
“Our match-winners have been our two leg-spinners plus (Nathan) Coulter-Nile up-front. We have to build performance around them, we just can’t depend on them,” he added.
Zaheer Khan did roll his arm at the nets on Wednesday but the veteran pacer’s return continues to remain a mystery. Even though assistant coach Praveen Kumar had said that Zaheer would take field on Sunday against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but Duminy was non-committal about the left-arm pacer’s return to action.
“I am not sure on his fitness status at the moment. What I do know is that he is coming on nicely and each day he is improving. Whether he is fit to play I am not sure, we will have to see what the medical staff say.
“But he is going to be a key asset for us going forward. He has loads of experience and has been very good in terms of sharing his knowledge with bowlers. So he is a key component to our side,” he said.
Albie Morkel played his part well in Delhi’s opening fixture against Chennai Super Kings but in the very next game Angelo Mathews was preferred over the South African. Duminy had an explanation for bringing in the Sri Lankan captain.
“Mathews was always going to play the first game, but unfortunately because of certain issues in Chennai he couldn’t play. So that change was always going to happen irrespective of Albie’s performance. He (Mathews) would admit that he would have liked to have performed better with the ball, but that’s the game of T20 cricket it’s not always going to go your way.
“He has been outstanding with the bat so far, he has finished well for us. So yes we have a few things to tighten up from the bowling perspective but not only him, all of us can tighten up in terms of our bowling.
“We know that our bowling performance was not up to standard in the previous game and we want to set it right going forward in the next game against Mumbai. We are certainly looking forward to it and I am sure he is looking up for the challenge as well,” said Duminy.
