Delhi skipper Gambhir was spot on when it came to plotting the dismissal of Rajasthan dangerman Yusuf Pathan at the Kotla
Delhi skipper Gambhir was spot on when it came to plotting the dismissal of Rajasthan dangerman Yusuf Pathan at the Kotla
Captaincy in instant cricket isn't an easy job, where reactions have to be instant and instincts often get the better of cricketing judgement. Gautam Gambhir has cultivated an unerring instinct for things and that went a long way in ensuring that Delhi Daredevils posted a convincing 67-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Ferozshah Kotla last night.
Gambhir leads with minimum fuss but amazing amounts of intensity and foresight. His execution of a plan created barely 30 seconds ago resulted in the dismissal of Yusuf Pathan, with whom the Royals' hopes of making a fight of the game vanished.
Pathan was playing the way he does, swinging his bat in a complete arc that saw the ball flying high, wide and handsome. Gambhir asked David Warner at mid-on to come in from the fence just a shade, and asked leg-spinner Amit Mishra to hold his delivery, again just a shade. Pathan swung predictably, and the ball, instead of the middle, found the lower end of the bat. The rest is in the scorebook.
"Yusuf Pathan fell for the trap," said vice-captain Dinesh Karthik. "Gautam planned it at that moment and placed the mid-on there. He was convinced he could get Yusuf out in that manner."
Captaincy, no burden
Karthik stated that Gambhir is handling the team beautifully. "Captaincy was no burden," he responded when asked if his free-flowing innings had anything to do with the lack of pressure. "Having said that, Gautam is leading us beautifully."
"There was nothing different in my batting really," Karthik said. "But it was great to have Gauti on the other end. He kept asking me to stay patient and hold back my shot-making. He asked me to be patient and said that we have to stick around till the end and whatever runs we would get in that time would be enough."
Gambhir utilised whatever came his way well. He called correctly and immediately opted to bat. At the same time, he realised that the track would afford deploying two leg-spinners (Mishra and Sarabjit Ladda).
Asked if the utilisation of two leggies was a part of the plan, Karthik responded: "Horses for courses, I guess." Good call nevertheless.
Lumb numb
Luck also plays an integral part in captaincy and Gambhir had that as well. He saw Farveez Maharoof, back in the side to replace the injured Dirk Nannes, get two wickets in his first over with Warner coming into action to take one great catch to remove Michael Lumb.
The little Australian was in sensational form in the field and the ball followed him, as he pulled off four catches and a great run-out.
"What went right?" was Royals' performance director Jeremy Snape's response to what went wrong. "We had a comprehensive beating. We were on a high after four wins in a row, brought down to ground
with a bump."
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