Mohammad Kaif wanted Ishant Sharma in the Delhi Capitals based on Test form
"We've decided that we aren't going to make many changes this year," Kaif said.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) have had a great Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. The team, captained by Shreyas Iyer, is placed second on the points table and has already booked itself a berth in the playoffs after their victory against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Yesterday, DC got the better of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by five wickets at home in their last league game.
Amit Mishra churned out a match-winning performance, picking up three crucial wickets to restrict the Royals to a paltry 115 in 20 overs. Thereafter, Rishabh Pant scored a quickfire half-century to help his team achieve the target with 23 balls to spare. Quite expectantly, Mohammad Kaif, the DC’s assistant coach, was happy and he talked about how the management worked towards forming the team.
“We have identified a core group of players who are going to win us matches and backing them to the hilt. For the coaching staff, one or two failures don’t change the equation as far as the players are concerned. That’s the standout factor for Delhi Capitals this season. We’ve decided that we aren’t going to make many changes this year,” Kaif was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).
Kaif heaps praise on Ishant
Apart from Pant and Mishra, Ishant Sharma was the other player, who made a significant impact in the game. The Delhi pacer dismissed the openers Ajinkya Rahane, Liam Livingstone and then Mahipal Lomror to rip the heart out of the Capitals’ batting lineup.
Prior to this IPL, Ishant didn’t have the greatest of careers in the IPL. However, as per Kaif, it was his form in the Test series against England, South Africa and Australia that compelled the Capitals’ management to go for the 30-year-old lanky speedster.
“Ishant is a big factor in our success this year. His IPL career has been full of ups and downs. But his recent form in Test matches in Australia, South Africa and England was tremendous. That’s why we were sure that we wanted Ishant in our team,” Kaif, also a former Indian cricketer added.
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