DC coach Badani on chaotic home run: Surface not conducive to our play

DC head coach Hemang Badani laments the inconsistent pitches at their home ground, Arun Jaitley Stadium. He stated the surface is not conducive to their style of play and that the team treats the venue as if it were an away one.

Following his side's win over Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Hemang Badani reflected on his side's run at home, saying that the surfaces are not conducive to their style of play and the team plays at this venue as if it were an away one. Starting off their home season with a win over Mumbai Indians (MI), DC's run at Arun Jaitley Stadium ran into a state of absolute chaos with five successive losses, with some defeats being really dramatic, notably the one run loss against GT, a loss to PBKS which saw a massive 265 get chased down and a nine wicket loss to RCB where DC skittled out for 75 runs. However, with this five-wicket win over Rajasthan, DC's home fans have got the win they wanted, and playoff hopes are still alive mathematically.

'Surface hasn't been conducive to our style of play'

Speaking on his side's win and their run at home, Badani said that DC's record away from home has been better, and the surface at Arun Jaitley Stadium has not been an easy one to figure out for the home team. "I think if you go back and see, if you are able to break the season into two halves, about what has happened at home and what has happened away, we have had four wins in six games away, and we have primarily struggled at home," he said during the post-match presser.

"We have literally had our second win at home this year, and if I had to speak of what has happened from last year, we have had five at this venue plus (two matches held in Visakhapatnam last year), and we have had seven now, which is 12 games, and we have only had three wins and one of them being a Super Over."

"That pretty much tells you how the surface has been for us. It hasn't been conducive to our style of play. We have many times not been able to figure out what the surface is like, and that is the reason why you see those results and those numbers," he continued.

Learning from the pitch's behaviour

Badani cited RR's example of how they went from 160-odd for two to getting just 30-something runs towards the end and losing six wickets. He said that the same thing was happening to DC after their opening stand of 105 runs, and the ball was reverse swinging and making it difficult for batters to play it once it got older.

"But we were cautious because we had a scoreboard available to us. They had to set a target, and we were just looking to create the game because the ball was starting to do reverse. The ball was holding a bit on the surface. It was not easy to bat once the ball got older, and hence we said take the game deep, go hard at the top, but take the game deep in the end," he added.

'We play this venue as an away venue'

Badani said that pitches at the home venue should be the ones where the team knows what they are going to get out of the surface, but it has not been the case so far. "One match we are out on 60, another on 150, another on 260. So we do not know how to consistently play pitch No. 4, No. 5, No. 6. We have played on three surfaces, and if you look at the numbers of all three, you will think it is 19-20. So that is difficult for you to prepare," he said.

"We know that if pitch No. 5 is a 180 pitch, pitch No. 6 is a 200 pitch, pitch No. 4 is a 250 pitch, then you structure the side accordingly. You structure your 11 and 12 accordingly. But here, it is just going on. We have stopped discussing the surface. We play this venue as an away venue," he added.

Badani, further voicing out his frustration with the conditions, said that every time they have turned up, "they have got something different".

"So it is what it is. We accept it, and we move on," he signed off.

Match Summary

Coming to the match, DC won the toss and opted to bowl first. After the early dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (46 in 21 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Dhruv Jurel put on a 70-run stand. Later, Jurel also provided support to skipper Riyan Parag, who registered his second fifty this season with 51 in 26 balls, with three fours and five sixes. But from 162/2, RR collapsed to 193/8 in 20 overs, with Mitchell Starc (4/39), Lungi Ngidi (2/24) and Madhav Tiwari (2/27) tightening the screws.

During the chase, Abhisek (51 in 31 balls, with seven fours and a six) and KL Rahul (56 in 42 balls, with a four and three sixes) put on a 105-run stand, after which they sank to 153/4. Knocks from skipper Axar Patel (34* in 18 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Ashutosh Sharma (18*) finished off the chase with five wickets and four balls in hand.

DC is in seventh place, with six wins and seven losses, giving them 12 points. RR is placed fifth, with six wins and six losses, giving them 12 points. (ANI)

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