Delhi Capitals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 44 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 match at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday (April 10). 

While it was former KKR player Kuldeep Yadav who was the star of the show for Delhi, picking up four wickets in the match, a decision made by the team raised quite a lot of eyebrows. 

Delhi Capitals, after being sent in to bat, were off to a flying start thanks to their openers David Warner and Prithvi Shaw but after the fall of the first wicket, their skipper Rishabh Pant walked out to bat. 

to #RP17's first DC victory match as Captain #OnThisDay in 2021
for a thrilling #KKRvDC victory today

Goodnight, fam #YehHaiNayiDilli | #IPL2022 | @RishabhPant17#TATAIPL | #IPL | #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/z7eimJ3V87

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 10, 2022

Once Pant was dismissed, Delhi shuffled their batting order and sent Lalit Yadav, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur ahead of Sarfaraz Khan, who played an impressive knock against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the previous game. 

Sarfaraz was seen sitting in the dugout but mysteriously he was not sent in to bat by the Delhi management. The result of the match went in favour of Delhi and hence, not a big issue was made out of this tactical error. 

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However, fans took a dig at Delhi Capitals and lashed out at the team management led by Ricky Ponting, their head coach, for ill-treating a young batter. 

@RishabhPant17 @RickyPonting @DelhiCapitals

What you people did to Sarfaraz Khan is crime

— The Common Man (சராசரி மனிதன்) (@tamizhmanidhan) April 10, 2022

Kindly tell us what is the role of Sarfaraz Khan in @DelhiCapitals. Still confused

— Cheema_22 (@GurinderCheema1) April 10, 2022

Talk about giving confidence to a player like Sarfaraz when players like Axar and Shardul are coming ahead of him to bat. What's the point of playing him?

— Aditya (@Adityakrsaha) April 10, 2022

So what are the likes of Agarkar and Amre there for if they can't have a word in for Sarfaraz? This is ridiculous.

— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) April 10, 2022

What's the point of playing Sarfaraz if he's going to be batting at number 8?

Surely he's a better bat than Lalit, Axar & Thakur. This is just becoming a little ridiculous to understand now..

— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) April 10, 2022

Sarfaraz had played at a better pace than his captain in the previous and unless he suffered an injury while sitting in the dugout, which is unlikely because he took the field when Delhi was fielding, it is baffling to see a batter not getting a chance to bat. 

While the Delhi management has done wonders with Kuldeep by giving him the confidence and game time, they are ruining a potential match-winner in Sarfaraz who can take on the spinners in the middle overs and a decent bet against fast bowlers as well. 

Dream11 GameChanger of the Match between @KKRiders and @DelhiCapitals is Kuldeep Yadav.#TATAIPL #DreamBig @Dream11 #KKRvDC pic.twitter.com/wlWlrP0rNf

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 10, 2022

The 24-year-old has played 42 IPL games, so far, and has represented three franchises in the cash-rich league. The right-handed batter has scored 477 runs at a strike rate of 137.46. 

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