IPL 2023: Indians must step up

Both Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians will be expecting a lot more from their local talent as they search for their maiden victory in the Indian Premier League here on TuesdayIt is extremely difficult to gain consistency in the highly competitive league if the Indian players are not delivering and that is what is plaguing both sidesDelhi are being forced to go back to the drawing board after three losses in as many games while perennial slow starters Mumbai have also lost two in two Both have their work cut out in all the departmentsTop order woesDelhirsquos toporder was lsquoBoultedrsquo in the last game raising questions about Prithvi Shawrsquos ability against fast bowling He has been dismissed in different fashionmdashpace bounce and swing in his three innings and there doesnrsquot seem to be a quick fix to his technical issuesWith wickets falling at the other end skipper David Warner has got the runs but it has come at a strike rate of 117Getting the opportunity in the absence of Mitchell Marsh who has gone back home to get married Manish Pandey lasted only one ball Delhirsquos pacers including Anrich Nortje Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed have been taken to the cleaners and the team must address that issue against MumbaiA spicy deck was dished out for the opening game here with pacers getting plenty of assistance The conditions might favour them again for the Delhi attack to bounce back There is a big question mark over the fitness of Khaleel who injured his hamstring in the game against Rajasthan RoyalsIn the spin department Kuldeep Yadav has been economical but the team expects more from him in the middle overs while Axar Patel has been expensiveUnacceptable startldquoIf I could put my finger on it Irsquod do something to change it We need to do some more soulsearching as a group and talk about it Three games in and no wins ldquoyou canrsquot afford to get off to bad starts in the IPLrdquo head coach Ricky Ponting said after the loss to the RoyalsThe starstudded Mumbai Indians too have a lot to figure out starting with their explosive toporder which has flattered to deceive so far Skipper Rohit Sharma looked good before a beauty of a ball from Tushar Deshpande got the better of him against CSKAlso readIn search of first win Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians hope local talent deliversA special knock from Ishan Kishan too is awaited while million dollar buy Cameron Green is yet to make an impactWhen a batter is out of form he finds news ways to get out and that is what is happening with star player Suryakumar Yadav who would be hoping his unexpected lean run ends on TuesdayThe young Tilak Verma has stood out in an otherwise under performing batting department Rohit had no hesitation in saying after the CSK game that the senior players need to step upThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever