While their opponents Kings XI Punjab come into the match on the back of a thrilling win, the Delhi Daredevils come into the game with two close defeats against their name. After finishing at the bottom of the table in the previous season, a partially revamped DD look to reverse their fortunes.
They lost to Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals off the last ball of the respective matches and are keen to break the last-over jinx. Speaking to the media ahead of the team’s training session in Pune, DD’s Angelo Mathews said, “We got so close in the last couple of games, we could have won the CSK game and the last game as well. We got so close to the line but just couldn’t hold on. It’s still the start of the season, we can still turn it around and the boys are doing really good. The environment is great. We are enjoying our cricket and that’s how it should be. We are going to try and bounce back and bounce back hard.”
Talking about DD’s poor record against the Kings XI, he said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s about ‘On the day you do fewer mistakes and win the game’. And I think we have got the team and skill. We just have to go out there and be positive and not think negatively at all. We can only get better. If we get one win under our belt I am sure we can turn this around.”
Speaking about the atmosphere and the mood in the camp, he said, “The environment and mood in the camp is brilliant and you should thank Gary (Kirsten), the team management and the captain (for keeping it that way). It’s quite easy to look back at things and point fingers at each other but I think our camp has been really good. We have taken a lot of positives out of it (losses) and we have talked about the negatives as well. We will obviously go out there and better our performance tomorrow.”
“We have got new faces, I am one of them. We have a new combination. You can’t complain about last year, it’s done and dusted; we have got to move on. We can’t really complain about the last two games as well, we have to bounce back really hard. The environment is nice and positive. Past is past, we will just look to the future and try to take one game at a time and win.”
Discussing his own role in the team, he said, “T20 is all about enjoying yourself, having fun. You can’t put a lot of pressure on yourself. We just have to go out there and enjoy ourselves. All the boys are equally good and we can turn the game around at any given opportunity. We just have to go out there, enjoy ourselves, be positive and impressive.”
Asked about the team’s composition, he replied, “Obviously it depends on the opposition and the wicket we are playing on. We have got players who can handle different situations, different conditions and different bowling attacks. You have to be flexible with your batting order, especially in T20 cricket, because you don’t know what situation you may have to face and you have to send the best player to try and deal with the situation. We have our combinations flexible and that’s the way it should be. Especially when you are batting, the top seven batters have to be ready when given the opportunity to try and prove themselves, go and enjoy and play positive cricket.
Talking about the pitch, he observed, “It looks a really good one. It used to be my home ground a few years back. It generally plays really well. (This is a) lovely stadium, the atmosphere will be great. So we’re looking forward to it.”
