IPL 2022, DC vs PBKS: Covid-hit Delhi Capitals grapple with uncertainty

Team allowed to practice on Tuesday, match vs Punjab moved to BrabourneBeing in the Delhi Capitals camp right now isn't the most lucrative prospect. Uncertainty has gripped the franchise. They were yet to settle down on a Plan A in their first matches of this season. Now they are hustling to draw up a Plan B and execute it. Unavailability of foreign players to start with and now a Covid outbreak in the camp has ensured Capitals haven't had the easiest initiation to the season. On Tuesday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) decided to move Capitals' match against Punjab Kings from Pune to the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai. The reason was "to avoid any further incident due to any undetected case during a long-distance bus journey in a closed environment".

After being confined to their rooms for a couple of days, the Capitals finally went for practice once the RT-PCR results came negative on Tuesday morning. Only players and support staff went to the ground. Another round of RT-PCR tests will be conducted on Wednesday morning to determine who can be available for the game. Coach Ricky Ponting and captain Rishabh Pant have not been able to figure out a set combination. This is a departure from the last two seasons, when they had identified a core group and played with more or less the same set of eleven players.

Both Ponting and Pant have harped on the need to create the same team environment with a new team post the mega auctions. But they haven't had it easy. In the tournament opener, they just had two overseas players available. By the time they got all of them ready to play, Mitchell Marsh went down with Covid. There is anything but continuity in the camp. The batting line-up has been all over the place too. The