TWO consecutive losses in two matches and lying at the bottom of the nine- team IPL is certainly not the situation any team wants to be in. And that’s exactly where Deccan Chargers are languishing at the moment.
However, South African pacer Dale Steyn, pace spearhead and one of the mainstays of Deccan, believes it is in a way good for them to begin with setbacks.
“ I think the two losses are a blessing in disguise. It’s always good to progress along a learning curve rather than hitting the top right at the start,” Steyn told M AIL T ODAY on Tuesday. Deccan lost their opening encounter to Chennai Super Kings and a close match to Mumbai Indians Steyn, 28, added that with each team playing 16 matches, the one which can assess its strengths and weaknesses quickly will be the smartest.
“ Currently it’s like teams are sparring like in a boxing match. They need to assess their strengths and weaknesses and play accordingly which will be crucial in such a long tournament,” he said.
However optimistic Steyn may sound, the two losses have indeed raised doubts about the form of the 2009 champions as well as the options available in the team.
Steyn was quick to banish any such notions. “ We have guys capable of winning matches present on the field as well on the bench. It all depends how we put up on the field during the match,” he said. “ Any team can do well in this format and we are no exceptions considering the players we have on our cards. If we get a couple of wins and achieve the winning momentum then I don’t think there is any reason that we can’t reach the final.” Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara too sounded positive. “ The fact that we were able to take the match against Mumbai Indians till the last ball instils belief in us that we can match the standards of the bigger teams,” he said.
“ We were about 20 runs short but then two quick wickets by Steyn really boosted our chance and the penultimate over bowled by him was brilliant. And then you go into the last with 18 runs on hand and you always back yourself. But then Rohit [ Sharma] batted really well.” Rohit hit two sixes in the last over by Daniel Christian to seal the fate of the match.
F1 EXPERIENCE
Five Deccan players Steyn, Sangakkara, JP Duminy, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel, got a chance to drive on the F1 track at the Buddh International Circuit here.
After being guided by drivers in the first lap, Duminy and Steyn took it upon themselves to drive the cars for two laps.
Sangakkara said the experience was exhilarating. “ Driving on a F1 track is certainly not easy on the stomach,” he said jokingly. “ We reached up to 160- 180 kmph and it felt very fast. But then I heard that F1 drivers reach 318 kmph on the home stretch and that’s amazing.”
Blessing
in disguise, is what Deccan Chargers’ bowling sensation Dale Steyn has to say about his team’s two consecutive losses in the tournament