Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua heaps praise on players despite debacle

We are just one week away from finding out as to who would lift the all-important IPL title. Four top teams are going to give it all and leave no stones unturned. IPL 11 will not have a new winner as the four teams that have made it to the playoffs have won the title in previous seasons. SRH and CSK have some cushion as they finished on top and can afford one slip up in the playoffs. RR and KKR do not have any sort of leeway as the loser will straightaway be knocked out of the tournament.

While the top teams have still a lot to play for, the likes of Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab haven’t had a good IPL season. The Delhi Daredevils looked a strong side before the start of the season but failed to live up to the expectations and finished last at the end of the league stage.

The franchise is one of the three teams to have played all the seasons of the IPL without winning a single title. For the fifth consecutive season, they have failed to finish above sixth. However, team’s CEO Hemant Dua was impressed with the Indian talent and was optimistic about his side’s fortunes next time around. Dua also earmarked a few players to be the ‘core’ of the team.

Exciting talent

He tweeted: “And we have a great kid in @IamSandeep25 and @trent_boult and when @KagisoRabada25 and @Tipo_Morris join them in full steam … we have a great core for 2019.” The Daredevils remained at the bottom half of the table for most of the season. The team started getting into some rhythm in the latter stages of the tournament but it was a little to late to catch up to the top four teams.

And we have a great kid in @IamSandeep25 and @trent_boult and when @KagisoRabada25 and @Tipo_Morris join them in full steam … we have a great core for 2019

— Hemant Dua (@inspiranti) May 21, 2018

The initial plan of the franchise did not work as Gautam Gambhir failed to lead the side positively and saw himself out of the playing XI midway in the tournament. Big guns like Glenn Maxwell failed to deliver for the side and minimal contributions by the foreign players brought about DD’s downfall. Rishabh Pant was the lone silver lining in DD’s dismal run as he notched up 684 runs in the league stages to become one of the most consistent performers of the season.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com