Shane Watson blames Kotla wicket for exposing DC batting, DDCA says: ‘Told not to listen to franchise’

Days after Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana acknowledged that every workforce inside the Indian Premier League enjoys home profit ‘except KKR’, Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson has blamed the pitch at their home ground, the Feroz Shah Kotla, for the aspect’s dismal effectivity inside the 2023 season.

“The pitches here in Delhi haven’t been great, to be totally honest,” Watson suggested reporters ahead of DC’s remaining recreation of the match in opposition to Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.

“They probably are great if you’ve got a lot of Indian top order batters. Then that wicket will suit that team. But that’s not the make-up of our squad.”

Watson referred to Delhi’s penultimate recreation in opposition to Punjab Kings at Dharamsala, the place they posted 213/2, their highest full of the season. The former Australia all-rounder acknowledged the pitches on the Kotla weren’t in sync with the strengths of the home workforce.

“As we saw the other night, if we’re able to play on a good traditional cricket wicket, where the ball goes through nicely, doesn’t really turn a lot, we saw exactly what can happen from our batting line-up,” he acknowledged. “We’ve got Prithvi Shaw with the overseas players (at the top). That’s our strength. But unfortunately, when we come to Delhi, due to the amount of cricket that’s been played on this wicket block, it’s very dry. There’s not much grass, if any. Which, unfortunately, exposes the set-up of our batting in particular.”

Watson hoped that the franchise would get pitches additional to its liking in 2024.

“Next season, hopefully the conditions are going to be more suitable to the make-up of our team. And there’ll be more true batting surfaces, which will then really showcase the world- class batters that we have on traditional cricket wickets.”

Swift rebuttal

DC, who’re ninth inside the 10-team league going into the ultimate spherical of video video games, have solely gained two of the six video video games they’ve carried out at home to date.

However, an official of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) acknowledged that they have been suggested to not heed the franchise’s requires as far as the pitch is anxious, and that the three-year gap between IPL video video games on the Kotla was the reason for DC not with the flexibility to switch to the conditions.

“We’ve been given clear instructions not to listen to the franchise. (The absence of grass) is owing to the heat that has increased,” the official suggested The Indian Express.

“The wicket was tougher in the 2019 season. If you look at the average scores from that year, they were somewhere around 135-140.”

Recently, Kolkata Knight Riders had complained regarding the pitches at their home venue Eden Gardens, not catering to their strengths, responding to which curator Sujan Mukherjee had suggested this paper that he was not sure to offer wickets as per the directions of the home workforce.

“IPL is not played on home advantage, and the captain may say anything he wants,” Mukherjee acknowledged. “Does IPL have a clause where it is written that pitches have to be produced according to the wishes of the IPL franchise?”