Ishant Sharma has shown that he has got more years left in the IPL, said Delhi Capitals fast bowling coach James Hopes following the veteran pacer's impressive run in the tournament.
Ishant, who was bought by Delhi at the 2022 auction, was not played in the initial phase of the tournament but he has made an impact in the four games he has played since, taking six wickets at a economy rate of 6.50.
The combination of 34-year-old Ishant and fit again pacer Khaleel Ahmed worked wonders for Delhi in the low-scoring game against Gujarat Titans. Ishant also defended 12 runs in the 20th over to script a morale boosting win for his team.
"Ishant is preparing like any senior bowler would. He has played a lot of cricket so his training sessions are very focused on what he needs to do in the game. He is not here for hours, he bowls a few overs and he is ready to go the next day and turns up and performs.
"He has been really good for us and it is nice to have senior head in the field. Both him and Khaleel, first time we put them in the attack and they both move the new ball which is what we want. He has got more years left in the IPL," said Hopes referring to the 105 Test veteran.
Speaking ahead of the must win game against RCB, Hope said Mitchell Marsh is fit for the game.
"He (Marsh) is fit and good to go. He was sick in the last game, could not get out of bed." Delhi remained alive in the IPL with an unexpected win over Gujarat and they now have three wins from their last four games. They had lost their first five games.
"We are a team that prides ourselves on not being easily beaten. We know we have five games remaining and we have to win all those games. It is a tough ask. "We have won three out of the last four, we have won a couple of games that we had no right to win. So, the boys are getting the confidence and even if we lose the next couple of games the boys are playing in the best T20 tournament. We keep preparing, we keep pushing to finish the season strongly." While batting has let the team down more often than not, Hopes said the bowlers can improve in the middle overs.
"What we need with both bat and ball, we need to control overs 7-15. We are a good death bowling team and we start pretty well," he said.
"We know RCB are a top heavy team and if we can get them early, we can restrict them to a manageable score." There has been lot of talk about Axar Patel's batting position but Hopes said that he is best suited to bat at five or lower.
"If he goes further up we are expecting too much from him. We need him to finish the innings as well."
'Virat bhaiya will always be my captain'
Saturday's game will be a homecoming for superstar Virat Kohli and young RCB batter Anuj Rawat, who both hail from Delhi. The 23-year-old Rawat was bought by RCB ahead of the 2022 auction and the team has high expectations from him.
The southpaw trains at the same academy where Kohli honed his skills.
The former India captain had to fill in for Faf du Plessis as skipper when the latter was not fit enough to field.
Rawat was put on the spot when asked about his leadership preference.
"For me, Virat bhaiya will always be my captain but Faf is also doing well and we are confident we will do well under his captaincy," said Rawat, adding that the middle-order needs to do better in the remaining games.
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