Hope Brathwaite's exploits bring Delhi Daredevils fans to the stadium: CEO Hemant Dua
CEO Hemant Dua feels that Carlos Brathwaite's magnificent match-winning effort in ICC World T20 finals will bolster the confidence of the beleaguered franchise as the dashing right-hander has the ability to bring the fans back in the stadium.
West Indies all-rounder Brathwaite hit four back-to-back sixes off England's Ben Stokes to win the final in a thrilling finish.Any kind of performance by a cricketer, who plays for your franchise
helps to bring in the confidence back. What he did was not easy to do
under pressure on a platform like a World Cup final. Such a performance
will definitely help the fans regain the lost faith in DD. It's good to
bring those people back in the stadium," Dua told PTI on franchise's
prized recruit, who was bought for Rs 4.2 crore during the auctions this year.
Dua
said he is happy but it's not a sense of vindication considering that
the franchise were asked a lot of question behind their aggressive
bidding for big all-rounder.
"I don't call it vindication. Any
athlete can be a performer on his day. It was his day. We went in as a
franchise. We saw talent and spark and that's why we bought him," the DD
CEO said.
Dua also had a word of caution for all those who are
expecting herculean effort from Brathwaite everytime he goes out to bat.
Dua shared his philosophy on how one can insulate a player like
Brathwaite or Pawan Negi, who will have constant spotlight on them.
"If
we look at the West Indies side, there was not a single match-winner.
There was a Chris Gayle, a Lendl Simmons, a Marlon Samuels, everyone
performed. That's how we expect it in DD. It was Brathwaite's day and he
performed. Similarly there will be Negi, Chris Morris, Mayank Agarwal
or a Shreyas Iyer performing for the team," he said.
The CEO also seemed confident that skipper Zaheer Khan's body will hold during the tournament, where the schedule
