Shipperd keen to nail semis

“We want to win the next two matches and relax. We want to qualify for the semifinals sooner than later. IPL is tough and we don’t want to be in a crunch situation where every team will be scrambling for a semifinal spot,” he said on the eve of Delhi Daredevils’ match against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday.

“We need a couple of wins to make it to the semifinals but we need not panic. We want to play a good game of cricket tomorrow. Against Kolkata Knight Riders in our last match, we lost from a good position. It was disappointing. We want to win tomorrow in front of our home crowd,” he added.

Asked whether Ashish Nehra, who is recovering from a rib cage injury, will play on the morrow, Shipperd said the team management will have a serious thought whether the left-arm pacer will be fielded or not.

“Nehra is very close to match fitness. He is very impressive at the nets but we will have a close look at him tomorrow. He is a very good bowler, we missed him,” said the Australian.
Anil Kumble had termed the Feroze Shah Kotla pitch as not ideal for Twenty20 cricket but Shipperd said the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain must be reflecting on the low scores during the Champions League Twenty20 League last year.

“When you look at the IPL III totals at this venue, there were 180-plus scores many times. Kumble must be reflecting on the scores of the Champions League. Obviously, the pitch is worse for the team batting second,” he said.

Asked for his opinion on some players having late night parties after IPL matches, the Daredevils coach said his side had no worry in this respect.“It is up to the players and the team management how to strike a balance.”