Auqib Nabi gave up 17 runs in two overs on his IPL debut against Chennai Super Kings, but Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani said Friday the young seamer will soon find his bearings.
Badani said Nabi had stayed calm throughout the season, kept the same line and length, and shown the skill set to play at a higher level. “There are two things which I think have been reasons for us to go hard for him. One is his temperament. He has maintained equilibrium,” Badani said. “The other is that he has been consistent with his line and length. He is somebody who has the skill-set to play at a higher level. Everyone has nerves in the first game. But I think he is somebody who will do well for us.”
The comments came on April 17 as Delhi Capitals tried to steady themselves after two successive defeats, first a one-run loss to Gujarat Titans and then a subdued outing against Chennai Super Kings. The side had four points and sat in the bottom half of the table, with batting output now under the spotlight after earlier totals of 190 and 200 gave way to a score around 180 to 190 in the last match.
Badani said the issue was not momentum but finding the problem and fixing it. “It is a question of our batters coming good at that point in time. I think we will be okay,” he said. “There is a lot of conversation about momentum in tournaments like this. A lot of the coaching staff and even the broadcasters speak about momentum. But I think it is more about finding out what the area of concern is for a certain side. We have kind of figured out, or at least we think we have addressed that issue.”
For Delhi Capitals, Nabi’s debut was a small early test rather than a final judgment, and the coaching staff is making clear it expects the next innings to tell a better story.