Chargers keen to end losing streak at home

HYDERABAD: IPL-2 champions Deccan Chargers, who have lost both the matches they played so far in IPL-4, face an uphill task when they meet Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second ho*me match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.

Kumar Sangakkara’s team lost the first one against Rajasthan Royals at home and were then defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders in away match at Kolkata. On the other hand, Royal Challengers have won an away match against Kochi Tuskers Kerala while losing to Mumbai Indians by nine wickets at Bangalore on Tuesday.

The Chargers have to rethink their strategy to chalk out a winning formula. But the home jinx still haunts them ever since they played their first match here in 2008.

They have a dubious record of losing all their nine matches they have played so far in the IPL tournament here and also lost two of their Champions League matches.

Coach Darren Lehmann has put up a brave face and dismissed of any sort of home jinx. But he has to instill confidence into the team which seems to lack depth in their batting. They may have the bowling fire-power of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha but with the batting looking brittle they are unable to get their act together.

Lehmann has to rejig the batting order or bring out some magic formula. The team is totally dependent on Sangakkara’s batting prowess and the former Sri Lankan captain has yet to find his World Cup form. JP Duminy, too, has done little with the bat. Batsmen like Bharat Chipli, Daniel Christian and DB Ravi Teja have chipped in with useful scores but that is not good enough to give a winning total.

Although outplayed by Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers have better batting and bowling depth. South Africa’s AB de Villiers is in awesome form. De Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan were the influential batsmen in RCB’s reasonable total against the Mumbai Indians. They have other big strikers like Virat Kohli and left-hander Saurabh Tiwary.

The injury to left-arm seamer Dirk Nannes could be a setback of sorts to the RCB team. But the likes of Zaheer Khan and skipper Daniel Vettori, it co*uld give the much needed aggression to the bowling.

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