Theft in Delhi Capitals camp amid IPL 2023, bats of David Warner and Co. worth ₹16 lakh go missing: Report

Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2023 campaign has taken a turn for the worse as after losing all five matches of the season, bats, pads and other equipment worth ₹16 lakh belonging to certain players have been stolen in transit.

As per a report in The Indian Express, the stuff went missing during their travel from Bengaluru to Delhi and the players got to know about the development once their kit bags were delivered to the rooms.

Among the things that were stolen were mostly bats – David Warner and Phil Salt lost three each and Mitchell Marsh two. India youngster Yash Dhull in fact was a victim of as many as five stolen bats. Besides, certain cricketers also had their shoes, gloves and more stolen.

“All of them were shocked when they heard that everyone had lost something or the other from their kit bags. This is the first time such an incident has happened and the matter was soon raised to the logistics department, police and later at the airport. The investigation is on,” Express quoted a DC source as saying.

The issue was flagged and a complaint has been raised over the same. Some bats of certain overseas players cost round about ₹1 lakh each. Despite their equipment, the DC unit managed to complete their practice session ahead of their next evening home game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday and the players have apparently got in touch with their managers, who have contacted the bat makers to send out fresh equipment soon.

“Our duty officer asked them to write a complaint with all the details and gave them a paper. They said that they would get all the details and will file a complaint. Appropriate legal action would be taken,” Airport DCP Devesh Kumar Mehta told Express, while informing that two individuals had reported the incident Tuesday evening.

This is the first time that players’ equipment has gone missing in bulk. The IPL usually hires a logistics company that is responsible for the smooth transfer of kitbags from one destination to another. The kitbags are kept outside their rooms by the players and they reach the next hotel and kept in front of the rooms assigned to the cricketers. An investigation has been launched and the concerned authority is looking into the matter trying to understand what exactly happened. The winless Capitals are already languishing at the bottom of the points table.