Kolkata: The Delhi Daredevils will be playing five games in nine days. The first game would be against two time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders which would be the toughest game says Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan.
After three back to back losses and having a break for six days, Zak said Delhi need “one bunch and start kicking” if they want to revive their IPL campaign.
Delhi is currently in the penultimate position in the league after salvaging just two wins from a total of six matches.
“We need a winning momentum. We are playing five matches in the next nine days. It’s an important phase for our campaign in this IPL. If we can achieve a winning momentum, many things will fall in place by May 6,” Zaheer told reporters on the eve of the match against KKR.
“It’s not about looking at this game, but it’s about looking at the five games together. It’s very important for us to look at this nine days rather than just tomorrow’s game.
“As a group we are going to look at next nine days rather than just one. For us to get a kicking in this tournament, we really need to focus on these nine days. The next nine days will be defining and I’m confident this group will deliver when it matters,” he said.
The Delhi camp has been boosted by the introduction of West Indian all-rounder Marlon Samuels who will be replacing the injured Quinton de Kock.
Zaheer added that Samuels would join the team on 29th April which is on the eve of their match against Kings XI Punjab.
“There have been many close games but we are not able to finish them. If you see the points table, we have a very good net run-rate. It happens only if a team does well. Everyone knows it,” Zaheer pointed out.
Asked whether failure of young batsmen were hurting the side, he said: “It’s about winning games right now. The way matches have gone for us, if we converted two wins out of those close games, it would have been a different scenario.”
“Overall, the kind of potential we have as unit is amazing. It just needs a little bit of confidence. It comes with winning. These five games are very crucial as far as our campaign is concerned. I have no doubt that this team will deliver the goods which are expected from them.”
Daredevils losing streak began against KKR when Manish Pandey sealed a four-wicket win in the penultimate delivery but Zaheer said the key is to look ahead.
“We have understood the areas we should be looking at and the kind of approach we should have for a particular situation. I’m very confident of coming games,” Zaheer said.
Daredevils last played Mohammad Shami in their home match against KKR but Zaheer said the pacer is completely fit and his exclusion from the playing eleven was more to do with team composition.
With a fine pace attack at his disposal, Zaheer said they are excited to bowl in the relaid bowling-friendly Eden wicket.
“I should congratulate Sourav (Ganguly) on that. He’s done a fantastic job, everyone is excited about tomorrow’s challenge,” he concluded.