In 2012, Delhi Daredevils topped the IPL table with 11 wins in 16 matches

Since 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has witnessed several fightbacks from teams at the bottom of the table who tweaked their gameplay to reach the playoffs. On some occasions, such teams also lifted the IPL trophy. However, on other unfortunate occasions, we have had teams that were at the top and on the cusp of becoming champions but made unbelievable decisions and crashed horribly.

In this IPL recap article, we go back to 2012, when Delhi Daredevils finished at the top of the table, but in the second qualifying game, they left their Purple Cap leader out of the team – a decision that went horribly wrong, and the team that could’ve lifted the IPL trophy crashed out of the tournament with a loss of 86 runs.

Qualifying One

Finishing at the top of the table with 11 wins in 16 matches, the Delhi Daredevils met the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first qualifying match. Delhi bowlers did a decent job, allowing the Riders to post only 164 runs, but in the process, all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who was also the team’s No. 7, got injured — the team had a balance of six batsmen and four bowlers, which also included four overseas players -- David Warner, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor or Morne Morkel.

For the record, Morne Morkel had played a crucial role in Delhi’s success and was the league’s Purple Cap leader with 25 wickets at an average of 18 and an economy of seven per over.

Benched

However, in the second qualifying match versus the Chennai Super Kings, Morkel was benched. Delhi justified the decision by bringing in Andre Russell to compensate for Irfan Pathan's all-rounder role. And because Russell was a foreign player, the team chose to let Morne Morkel go and show more faith in the batters. The removal of Morkel also led to the addition of Sunny Gupta.

Who?!

From Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, Sunny Gupta had never played in the IPL until that point. The team could’ve chosen left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem or the experienced Ajit Agarkar, but for reasons unknown, it chose an unknown bowler from Jamshedpur who got a call. Not only a call, but Gupta was even handed the first over of the game.

Gupta gave away 47 runs in three overs, because of which Chennai Super Kings scored 222 runs – only the second time a team that season had scored above 200 runs against Delhi, and on both occasions, Morkel was not present.

Sehwag & Aaron’s theatrics

Despite being a nobody, Gupta alone should not be blamed for giving away the 47 runs. Varun Aaron was no better, giving away 63 runs in four overs. And when runs were already leaking, Sehwag felt like he should bowl an over and ended up giving away 21 runs.

The night turned into one of the worst bowling performances ever by a team, followed by poor batting. Delhi Daredevils scored only 136 runs, with the two replacements, Russell and Gupta, scoring 16 and 0, respectively. Jayawardene’s 55 and Taylor’s 24 were the highlights of the Daredevils’ innings – the rest of the batters left with single-digit scores, losing the game by 86 runs.

The decisions taken that day by the Delhi Daredevils definitely remain the biggest brain fade moment in IPL’s history.