‘He has Test hundred on debut’ – Delhi Capitals bowling coach Ajit Agarkar silences critics with his sensational remark amidst Prithvi Shaw’s poor form

With Delhi Capitals (DC) facing humiliating defeats so far, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan have struggled against the pace attacks they have faced. Nevertheless, bowling coach Ajit Agarkar believes it is wrong to point out individual players when the failure has been a collective one. Before Gujarat Titans (GT) easily cruised by six wickets with 11 balls to spare on Tuesday, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Capitals by 50 runs in their opening fixture.

The two cricketers from Mumbai, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who are talented domestic batters, appeared to have struggled in both games against bowlers like Mark Wood (LSG), Mohammed Shami, and Alzarri Joseph (GT), all of whom can bowl at 145+ and get movement and bounce at a decent pace.

“I mean they (Shaw and Sarfaraz) have got runs against fast bowling. I don’t think we batted well so why point out one or two guys,” Agarkar was quoted as saying on NDTV Sports.

We just need to apply ourselves better: Ajik Agarkar

“None of our top-order players really got going in both the games. We haven’t had big runs at the top which some of the other teams have.” After being in a tangle against a short ball by Wood in the first game, Sarfaraz was hit on the head by Alzarri, and umpires called for a concussion check as he struggled to get to 30 off 33 balls. No point picking individuals, collectively we haven’t been good on both nights and we need to improve as we are playing against some good teams. So a lot of credit to Gujarat but we need to bat collectively as a unit to get results,” former India pacer asserted.

“We are talking about Prithvi Shaw who has got a Test hundred on debut. He is not playing IPL for the first time. So again why pick on people? “When you lose, it’s not because of one or two people. I think you have to accept collective effort hasn’t been good tonight (Tuesday) and you have to accept it. We have got personnel to do it. We just need to apply ourselves better,” the 45-year-old stated.

The Delhi franchise are slated to play their next match against Rajasthan on Saturday.