A string of defeats has left controversy-dogged Bangalore Royal Challengers at the bottom of the points table. The brightest spot, however, for the team, is the performance of Zaheer Khan. The left-arm seamer, with 13 wickets from 10 matches at an economy rate of 8.20, is in the running for the purple cap.

There were initial doubts over Zaheer’s fitness but in the tournament, he has taken up the task of spearheading the Royal Challengers’ bowling department with considerable ease. Although he picked up a wicket in his very first match, he also went for runs. In his second match, he returned with enviable figures of 4-1-7-2, mixing up yorker-length deliveries with slower ones, surprising many a batsmen. Only in the last match against the Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur, he went wicket-less and proved expensive, conceding 46 runs in his four overs.

With a few other contenders for the purple cap, Zaheer will have to return to his best against the Delhi Daredevils. He is currently behind Shane Warne (14 wickets) and is tied with Irfan Pathan and S Sreesanth, who are ahead on average.

Another performer in the Bangalore ranks is skipper Rahul Dravid. Despite controversies and pressure, Dravid has delivered as a batsman. His unbeaten 36-ball 75 on Saturday may have gone in vain, but Dravid has silenced those who felt he was unfit for T20.

But Dravid’s needs to rise as a skipper too. He needs to infuse in them a spirit that is lacking.

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