Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants in their last league game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season on May 14 (Tuesday). They have not been knocked out of the tournament but given their poor net run-rate of -0.377, DC have already played for the last time this year. The Capitals ended with seven wins and as many losses in IPL 2024, a stark improvement from their situation in the first half of the season.
They had won only one out of first five matches but recovered very well to win six out of last nine. One more win would've given them a realistic shot at the playoffs. Meanwhile, DC Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly has lauded certain players for their performance and picked Mukesh Kumar as their best bowler of the season. He ended as the joint-highest wicket-taker of the season with 17 wickets in only 10 matches at a strike rate of only 12.5. In fact, if not for injury, Mukesh would've been a contender to win the purple cap as well.
Ganguly noted that the fast bowler delivered every time the team needed him especially in the death overs. "Mukesh has been our best bowler this season. He bowls all the difficult overs, whether at the start or at the death. There has been no match this season where we didn't need his bowling in the death. We knew that conceding sixes would lead to more losses, so he has consistently delivered there. Our Indian bowlers have been great this season," he said while speaking to Jio Cinema.
Another youngster who impressed Ganguly a lot was Rasikh Salam who came back well after getting dropped earlier in the season. "You've seen Rasikh's development over time. The more matches he played, the better he got. It's not easy to bowl on the Delhi wicket. This wicket is great, and the ground isn't that big, so I think for any bowler, it isn't easy to bowl here. Rasikh has improved a lot," Ganguly added. For the unversed, Rasikh picked nine wickets in eight matches including consecutive three-wicket hauls during the season.
