• Sportzyverse
• IPL 2024
• 04/23/2024
• 0 Comments

The Delhi Capitals’ young wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel has emerged as a crucial player in the team’s batting lineup during IPL 2024. However, Australian star David Warner has revealed that the left-handed attacking player was not initially intended to start in the XI at the beginning of the tournament.

Unexpected Impact Player

In DC’s opening match against the Punjab Kings, Porel was listed among the five Impact Players, but the initial plan was to include Mukesh Kumar in the second innings, as the team was batting first. The situation shifted when DC lost quick wickets, prompting the team management to bring in Porel as an Impact Player in order to boost the batting total.

Porel’s performance was impressive, as he scored an unbeaten 32 off just nine balls in his debut game, setting the tone for his subsequent performances. Warner praised Porel’s exceptional strike rate of 162 throughout the tournament.

“Abishek Porel has been outstanding. He wasn’t even going to play in the first game, but we lost early wickets, and he came in as an impact player. He scored 30-odd runs in nine balls, which changed the game. He played very well the other day as well. He is going to be a very good player,” Warner said.

Also read Ricky Ponting ‘s Bold Claim: “Attacking Batting to Decide IPL 2024 Winner”

DC’s Playoff Challenge

DC currently sits in eighth place in the points table with three wins out of eight matches. The team must win five of its remaining six matches to secure a spot in the playoffs. Warner acknowledged that DC has not performed at its best so far.

“We’re not where we want to be for the team’s sake. We’d like to win a few more games. But we’ve got to win the remainder to compete in the finals. For us, it’s about doing as best as we can. Hopefully, we can play each game like we did against Gujarat,” he said.

“We’ve got a little bit of improvement to do, both with bat and ball. If we can minimise the totals, it would be great. And then if we bat first, try and put a big total on the board and defend it,” the Aussie batter added.