Luck of the devil for Delhi

Good fortune might be a lazy man’s estimate of success but in a tight Twenty20 league, you take what you can get. After an IPL campaign marred by crucial last-over defeats and untimely rains, Delhi finally seem to have hit upon the luck of the devil. Mumbai’s excruciating loss to Team Jaipur has given the Daredevils a second lease of life and a toehold in the last-four, so it’s time now for Virender Sehwag’s men to put the ‘p’ back in front of the ‘luck’. No wonder, then, they chose to sweat it out in the excruciating mid-afternoon heat on Tuesday to celebrate. Even though the team was at a hotel attending teammate Tillekeratne Dilshan’s wedding, Monday night had been a tense affair, with the Mumbai-Jaipur game swinging back and forth and no clear winner emerging till a dramatic last over. With Jaipur needing 43 off the last three overs, 32 off the last two, and two greenhorns in Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease, Sehwag was candid enough to admit he had given up all hope.

"Even though the team was at a hotel attending teammate Tillekeratne
Dilshan’s wedding, Monday night had been a tense affair,
with the Mumbai-Jaipur game swinging back and forth
and no clear winner emerging till a dramatic last over"

‘‘We were sitting in front of the TV and we had no hope we would still be in the tournament. After all, there were two very young players at the crease,’’ he said, ‘‘We were praying for Jaipur to win but I would have had no problems if the better team had won. Mumbai also deserved to win, but it was a fantastic run-chase by Jaipur. When they won, we were all congratulating each other. I called up everyone, the franchisee, TA Sekhar, my teammates and we planned this practice session today.’’

Now, the sense of resentment within the Delhi camp - that they deserved to be in the semis, that they had been robbed by factors beyond their control - has been replaced by a healthy buzz that their luck might finally have turned.

And that can only be good news for the skipper. ‘‘We will go all out now,’’ said Sehwag, ‘‘Luck has played a big factor in this event. There are no weak or strong teams, never mind the points table.

"They deserved to be in the semis, that they had been robbed
by factors beyond their control"

Anyone can beat anyone on their day and you have to be

always on your guard. Our strategy is simple: We don’t care who the other teams are. We are not looking to avoid Jaipur in the semis. We are one of the best teams.’’

The much-maligned middle-order too came good in the crucial last tie against Mumbai, giving the likes of Manoj Tiwary and Dinesh Karthik some much-needed self-belief. Sehwag, Gambhir and McGrath are still the key for this team but Sehwag said one of their strengths was that they were ‘‘not dependent on a few individuals to perform’’. On a day of positive vibes, Mohammad Asif too joined in: his stitches have been removed, and the Pak seamer too could be back in action.

Scarcely hours back, the Devils might have thought they had no hope in hell. Now, the sky’s the limit. Now, the sky’s the limit