‘Why to point out one or two guys’: Ajit Agarkar backs up Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan

The inept technique of young Indian batters against top quality fast bowling compounded Delhi Capitals’ worries as they succumbed to an embarrassing six-wicket defeat at the hands of defending champions Gujarat Titans in Delhi on Tuesday night.
Defending his top order especially Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, Delhi Capitals Assant coach Ajit Agarkar said,  “They’ve (Prithivi and Sarfaraz) made runs in the past and in general, I don’t think we batted well, So why point out one or two guys? None of our top order did well. Really no one got going. I mean, in both games we’ve not begun at the top as other teams have and you can see the difference. So there’s no point picking individuals. Collectively, we’ve not been good enough on both nights and you need we need to improve because you’re playing against some good teams. So credit to Gujarat but, you know, we need to improve collectively as a group as a batting unit to get better results.
So when you’re talking about the Prithvi Shaw, who got a Test 100 on debut and so you’re not talking about someone who’s playing for the first time in life. So when you lose, you don’t lose because of one person or two, you lose collectively.”
Prithivi scored 7 and 12 and Sarfaraz scored 30 and 4 in two innings the duo have played so far in the IPL 2023. On Tuesday, Mohammed Shami (3/41 in 4 overs) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29 in 4 overs) intimidated the Delhi top-order in the first 10 overs while Rashid Khan (3/31 in 4 overs) hardly faced any trouble keeping the batters under check to restrict the home team to a below-par 162 for 8.
Agarkar further added, “We just need to apply for better and better performances. so no, again, you’re talking about two people who got heaps of runs and there’s no doubt that there are different standards when you play domestic cricket and come to IPL. But because you’ve got heaps of runs, you have been there before. It’s about adjustment and these guys have done it before it’s not like they are playing for the first time.So we’re pretty confident that we get it right.”
On David Warner’s performance
“No, he got a 50 in the previous game. I think today was all right. I mean look like I said before I think collectively I don’t think there’s any different way to approach. He has probably been one of the best players ever in the IPL. So you expect him to get it right. Just as a unit I think we’ve not had a big score in two games now and we’ve got to remember it’s just been two games.”
On Abhishek Porel’s debut
“To replace someone like Rishabh Pant will always be difficult but you can’t keep harping on that. You’ve got to try and fix it with the players you’ve got and you’re very impressive with the way approach and that’s for someone so young was not been at this level to show the kind of temperament and when even when he went in we were in a lot of trouble. So that’s a real positive for us tonight and look very comfortable behind the stumps against someone like Anrich Nortje who was quite quick. So real positive for us and you got to keep building on it.”