Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
After having a great start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, the Delhi Capitals (DC) are having an on and off season now. While they dominated themselves at the top of the table, they have now dropped down to fourth place after six wins from nine games thus far. On Sunday, April 27, the Axar Patel-led side went down by six wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
After their heartbreaking defeat on Sunday, DC mentor Kevin Pietersen was questioned about Indian seamer T Natarajan’s absence from their playing XI. It is to be noted that the left-arm seamer was picked up by DC for INR 10.75 Crore in the mega auction in November last year. Despite getting picked for a whopping price, he has failed to feature in a single game, however, the likes of Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma and Dushmantha Chameera are being preferred.
Tell me where he fits in at the moment?: Kevin Pietersen responds to journalist’s query
Addressing the post-match press conference after DC’s defeat, a journalist questioned why the side hasn’t played T Natarajan despite splurging such a big amount on him. The question got a sharp response from the DC mentor as he said, “We can only play 12 players, one being an impact player. And if you can tell me where he fits in at the moment, you would help us. If you can help us play 13-14, it would help us.”
“One thing I can say about Natarajan is that he's doing everything that he's been asked to do, as are all of our players. What's been so impressive about our set up is how good the guys are that are not playing, and they know that their chance is coming. They know that their chance is just around the corner,” Pietersen further added.
The former England cricketer also gave an example of Donovan Ferreira, mentioning how he was ready for his chance against Gujarat Titans and said that all the players are ready to play, whenever the opportunity comes. “You have a look at Donovan the other night, he turned up and faced a couple of balls against GT. I mean that was spur of the moment, but he was ready. It didn't work out, but he was ready and all of our players are ready. Anything can happen again. So all our players are ready and Natu is again, he's chomping at the bit to get there,” he added.
The Axar Patel-led Delhi Capitals (DC) are currently placed at fourth spot after match 46 in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They will next host the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday, April 29 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi before travelling to Hyderabad to take on Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 5.
