Delhi Capitals can only go up from here: Sourav Ganguly

The indifferent run of Delhi Capitals has become a major source of headache for the team management, though Sourav Ganguly – their Director of Cricket – feels it will end sooner than later.

Capitals, who had proved to be the most improved team in IPL since their re-branding in 2019, had slumped to their fourth straight loss against Mumbai Indians at home on Tuesday. The batting seems a major worry with skipper David Warner, despite logging in the runs, no longer being able to assert himself in the Powerplays as before.

There is no doubt that the Capitals are missing their regular skipper Rishabh Pant, but the team needs to pick up the pieces before it’s too late with the arsenal at their disposal. ‘’It can only be up from here and hopefully, the young boys will turn up on the high-scoring wicket in Bengaluru. You have to find a way to make a comeback. This has happened to everyone," he said.

‘’When you play for a period of time, you will go through such phases. It's about going back to your rooms, looking at the mirror and asking yourself how you can change,’’ Ganguly, the former Indian captain and a great motivator of men, told the team website in an interview.

Capitals will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore next at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Looking back at their loss against Mumbai, Ganguly said: ‘’The loss certainly hurts, especially because of the way this team has played since 2019. But these things happen in sport. It's never easy when you lose. There are so many youngsters on our side and we'll take time to be a good team."

Asked to point out what’s been hurting the team, Ganguly said in no uncertain terms that batting needs to improve significantly. ‘’We'll have to bat much better. Axar was absolutely brilliant and that's why we got a score of above 170. We need others to stand up. Lalit bowled well on the wicket in Delhi but the most important thing for us is to get together and put runs on the board,’’ said Ganguly, who rejoined the franchise after a three-year hiatus during his role as the President of BCCI.

Dada now enjoys the role of an umbrella head for the cricketing affairs of Capitals, who have now acquired a team in the International T20 League in the UAE as well.