It’s high time for Delhi Capitals. With so many variations around which includes their logo, their team name, their jersey they will be hoping for the change in their fortunes as well. They are the only team that hasn’t made to IPL finals yet. Moreover, the majority of the times they usually found themselves in the bottom 4 of the table. From remarkable players to legend coaches from the best young Indian talents to excellent support staffs they had everything in their pocket, but still, they suffered in the previous years and hoping for a turnaround this time to what could be the 12th season of the IPL.
They spent a total of 17.8 crores in the auction to strengthen their side. Colin Ingram is the highest among them (6.4 crores). Shreyas Iyer will be the captain this time around, and Ricky Ponting will again nurture the youngsters. The major boost they received is in the form of Gabbar Shikhar Dhawan (traded from Hyderabad) who will provide the much-needed solidity at the top.
With the likes of Axar Patel coming, who could provide the balance in both departments, Hanuma Vihari who had performed great in domestic cricket, Colin Ingram who had played tremendously well in various leagues all over the world & could be an integral part in the middle order which will eventually improve their consistency, Keemo Paul the perfect Caribbean flavour; they have a strong team this time. In the past, marque players often let the franchise down in the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir (last season) and many more.
The retained players have to be answerable to take the team down the line. They can’t afford any slip-ups now. The big foreign retained players will be Colin Munro who is the master of 20-20, he needs to fire at any cost this time, Chris Morris who had reasonably done well with the bat and ball for Delhi. Other than these Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada the lethal duo will now need to step up. They all now need to pull the trigger and perform like who they are, and not less than that. The Indian youth talent pool they have is extraordinary in the likes of Rishabh Pant who had a phenomenal season last year scoring at a brisk strike rate of 173.80 adding a tally of 684 runs, the highest runs by a wicket-keeper batsman in a single season of IPL, Prithvi Shaw the young superstar, Shreyas Iyer, Manjot Kalra etc. They can demolish any team on their day so they will be fundamental to their success once again.
Their strength is nothing but a great mixture of Indian and foreign players. There are no such weaknesses as they possess almost everything like talented Indian batsman, world-class fast bowlers, good foreign players, the only thing they lack is the real quality spinner. Even though they have Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamicchane but when it comes to off-spin, they require options.
Delhi Capitals never had a chance before to make their fans happy. Last time too they finished last. The fans have always been supportive in a hard time, and this time also they will be with their team. Delhi Capitals will try their best to give their fans what they deserve this time which is not less than a trophy. The underachievers need to find the way this year. With proper use of resources and by performing together they could be crowned as the champions of this season.
However, with no Glenn Maxwell and Gautam Gambhir and with the current combinations and team balance they are having, the probable eleven could be like this with top-heavy Indian batting and foreign fast bowling and allrounders –
Shreyas Iyer ( Captain ), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant ( WK ), Hanuma Vihari, Colin Ingram, Chris Morris, Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Amit Mishra
This season squad includes –
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Avesh Khan, Bandaru Ayyappa, Ankush Bains, Trent Boult, Colin Ingram, Sandeep Lamichhane, Manjot Kalra, Amit Mishra, Chris Morris, Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Keema Paul, Kagiso Rabada, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Ishant Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Nathu Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Hanuma Vihari.
