3 holes DC might struggle to fill at the IPL 2025 auction ft. death bowlers
The Delhi Capitals (DC) had their moments in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but it wasn't a productive campaign overall. The IPL 2020 finalists again missed the playoffs, continuing their wait for a maiden title in the tournament.
To make matters worse for DC, they had to let go of captain Rishabh Pant, who will enter the IPL 2025 auction pool. The Capitals managed to retain Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abishek Porel, but they have plenty of work to do on November 24 and 25.
Delhi have never been known for their astute auction strategy, and fans of the franchise can't be faulted for being worried. Things might not be easy for the team, with plenty of holes to fill and uncertain dynamics surrounding the mega auction.
On that note, here are three holes DC might struggle to fill at the IPL 2025 auction.
#3 DC need quality death bowlers for the Arun Jaitley Stadium
The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi has become a graveyard for bowlers in the shortest format. IPL 2024 saw 250-plus scores being piled up regularly, with batters from all teams finding it all too easy to clear the short boundaries.
With that in mind, DC will need to assemble a fearsome pace-bowling attack, which is something they didn't have in the last campaign. Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Lizaad Williams, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Marsh, and Rasikh Salam were among the plenty of bowlers tried out. Rasikh was perhaps the only one who impressed, but he strangely wasn't retained for the uncapped amount of ₹4 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.
Quality fast bowlers will be extremely hard to come by, with the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj expected to go for exorbitant amounts. DC aren't exactly strapped for cash, but they might still struggle to get more than one quality pacer, given that their retentions don't comprise any.
#2 Delhi need a captain
Pant's exit from the Delhi Capitals has raised a lot of questions as to what transpired behind the scenes. The batter himself has come out on social media and claimed that his release into the auction pool wasn't a money-related matter.
Irrespective of what the reasons might be, DC are now without their captain and the foundational block of their franchise. It seems unlikely that Pant will go back to the team, with the ownership changes and several other backroom factors working against that.
Delhi will now need to find a captain at the auction, and that is easier said than done. While Shreyas Iyer has been touted as the man to come back to his former team, he won't come cheap. And DC won't want to waste a significant portion of their budget on a batter who is barely above average in the T20 format, as that would leave them with plenty of concerns in the other departments.
#1 The Capitals need to pick most of their top and middle order
Stubbs and Porel are quality batters, but DC still need to find the rest of their top and middle order. Having lost several players, including Shreyas, Pant, and Prithvi Shaw over the last two auction cycles, the Capitals have plenty of work to do.
Indian batting options will be in high demand at the IPL 2025 auction, with most franchises having retained their big names. Delhi can't afford a situation like the one they've had over the last auction cycle, where they've been overly dependent on their overseas names to pull them through tricky situations.