The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the richest domestic T20 league in world cricket and Delhi Capitals, albeit rebranded, have been around since the first edition. The IPL fills the pockets of the players, franchise owners and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The franchise owners and players are always cautious of toeing the line of the BCCI; lest they run afoul of the most powerful cricketing board in the game.
Delhi Capitals Owner Bashes BCCI
This is why it is surprising to see one of the co-owners of the Delhi Capitals franchise take a dig at the BCCI. Parth Jindal who is also the director of JSW Sports bashed the BCCI on social media by saying he did not understand why the BCCI continues to omit Rishabh Pant and R Ashwin from the shorter format of the game. Both Ashwin and Pant play for the Delhi Capitals.
One of the reasons why Jindal could be frustrated? Both Pant and Ashwin are key players for the Capitals! They haven’t played a lot of cricket in recent times. Their lack of time in the middle could play a major factor in the way they perform; the 2020 IPL starts on 29 March.
R Pant Only A Tourist In New Zealand
The fortunes of R Pant have changed dramatically in the span of a couple of months. He was touted to be the replacement for MS Dhoni in all formats of the game. He is a hard hitting batsman, a decent wicket-keeper and has age on his side. However, he has had a poor run in the shorter formats of the game. Indian fans started getting frustrated with the selectors for giving him a long rope.
When Pant suffered an injury, KL Rahul took the gloves and did reasonably well. Captain Virat Kohli liked the balance that Rahul brought to the side as a keeper-batsmen and decided to use him in both the T20 and ODI series in New Zealand as the first choice wicket-keeper batsmen.
Rahul has improved his keeping with every game and his batting has been top class. As a result, Kohli has stated publically that they will continue to use KL Rahul in place of Pant.
This decision has literally made Pant a tourist in New Zealand and has frustrated his Delhi Capitals franchise. Jindal lashed out at the BCCI saying if they were not going to play R Pant in New Zealand, they should have sent him back to domestic cricket or made him play for the India A side.
R Ashwin No Longer Main Spinner
R Ashwin is currently in New Zealand as part of the test squad. However, it highly unlikely that he will play in the two match test series as he is no longer the number one spinner in the squad.
The conditions in New Zealand will most likely mean that India go into both tests with three seamers and one spinner. Kohli has preferred Ravindra Jadeja has his first choice spinner in test cricket because he is a better batsman than R Ashwin. If this happens, then Ashwin is also going to be a tourist for the next couple of weeks. He will enter the 2020 IPL with very little match practice.
Jindal said that Ashwin is a wicket-taker and should have also been in the ODI squad. India’s obsession with wrist spinners has hurt them. They have forgotten that Ashwin is one of the best ODI bowlers; he can not only keep things tight but also pick up wickets. The Delhi Capitals owner is understandably frustrated but it is highly unlikely his views will impact the top brass at the BCCI.
