Injured Pietersen to miss DD’s opener against RCB; Karthik to captain
A new-look Delhi Daredevils will launch their Indian Premier league campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Thursday without the services of their star batsman and captain Kevin Pietersen, who has been ruled out because of injury.
It will be a big setback for Delhi as Pietersen will be forced to sit out of the lung-opener because of a finger injury which is yet to heal completely. He is also a doubtful starter for the second game as well.
Pietersen, who was bought by Daredevils for $1.5 million (`9 crore), had sustained an injury on his right hand little finger during fielding drills with Surrey at the Oval last month. Vice-captain Dinesh Karthik will lead the team on Thursday, Daredevils assistant coach Eric Simons said. “He (Pietersen) did not play in the practice match and he won’t be considered for tomorrow’s game. Dinesh Karthik will captain the side,” Simons said.
“It is a setback for us because he is an important player in our set-up. It’s a bit of a jolt for us, but what we did well during the auction was that we made sure we had covered all areas. I think we have got ample replacements about who we can consider during such situations and that was one of the strengths of the squad that we have put together,” he said.
Simons said Pietersen himself was disappointed on missing out since he has been looking forward to playing for a long time now.
“It is tough for KP himself. He is someone who is very passionate. Even though he has not been able to take much part in practice sessions, he has been there for all of them. He is enthusiastic about his new role for Daredevils this year and it’s disappointing for him as much as it’s for us,” he said.
RCB, on the other hand have a star-studded line-up and will be keen to start their campaign on a high. RCB had won both their matches against DD in 2013.
After a miserable 2013 - the Mahela Jayawardene-led DD finished last - Daredevils surely would want to turn their fortunes under new coach Gary Kirsten and the talented Pietersen.
England’s all-time leading run-scorer across all formats, Pietersen, 33, will now be available for a full IPl season for the first time following the end of his international career. With the hard-working wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik and South Africa’s Jean-Paul Duminy as value additions in the new squad, Delhi are looking prepared and raring to go.
RCB, who had retained big boys Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers for the seventh edition, broke bank for Yuvraj Singh after shelling out a whopping 14 crores in the February auctions. The team’s best finish was the runners-up trophy in 2011 but did not go beyond the qualifying stages in the 2013 season.
The Vijay Mallya-owned outfit is once again looking good with Ravi Rampaul, Mitchell Starc and Shadab Jakati on the list of promising buys’ this season.