Winless DC, MI yearn for first points

Exactly a month ago, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals had happy team owners. Both teams, playing in the inaugural Women's Premier League, could do no wrong - not a match lost till that point. One team displaying its full range of depth and the other powering through without even needing to utilize its XI.

That's not the case in the IPL though.

Just over a week into the start of the tournament, Parth Jindal - co-owner of Delhi Capitals - is calling out the lack of intent of his players. Three games down, they are yet to get off the mark. More significantly, they are unable to figure out and fix the extent of the concerns. There is panic, and there is admission of those concerns. Ricky Ponting, the head coach, is uncertain if he's even putting the best XI on the park.

Pravin Amre, DC's batting coach, put up a braver face ahead of the team's fourth game of the season and said they are looking for inspiration from a team that has had lengthy streaks of losses before eventually winning the tournament. "It's not how you begin, but how you end that matters," he muttered in a rather filmy tone on Monday.

The team he was referring to was Mumbai Indians, who aren't doing any better. With no points on the board as yet, they don't look like the most inspired lot either. Given the slow starts the five-time champions have historically had, they are unlikely to be as put-off by it as DC are, but there are aching concerns already.

Much like DC (Rishabh Pant), Mumbai Indians are without the services of arguably their best player (Jasprit Bumrah). And the rest have just not fit in adequately to provide the power and sting. The good part about Tuesday's clash, in Delhi, between two fairly troubled side is that at least one will register a win and get some much-needed momentum.