3 reasons why Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals will not make the IPL 2022 playoffs
The 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) will be Rishabh Pant's first as full-time captain of the Delhi Capitals (DC). Retained for a massive INR 16 crore prior to the IPL 2022 auction, the young wicketkeeper-batter will look to build on the good work done in the previous three seasons and bid for the title yet again.
However, in a ten-team IPL format, qualifying to the top four is a tricky task. Given the entry of two new IPL teams, the talent pool available per team has been slightly diluted, thus leaving Pant's team with fewer big stars than in the previous edition.
Although on paper, DC had a strong auction, here are three reasons why the team will not make the 2022 IPL playoffs.
#3 Unavailability of overseas players for the initial IPL 2022 games
A major component of DC's strategy for the 2022 IPL has revolved around their overseas picks. To replace Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, two lynchpins of the DC batting unit over the last few seasons, the franchise recruited Australian stars David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Anrich Nortje, the South African pacer who was key to their success in the past two seasons, was retained by the team.
Unfortunately for the franchise, Cricket Australia's requirements from contracted players ensure Warner and Marsh will be unavailable until the end of Australia's tour of Pakistan. As for Nortje, the pacer has spent a long period on the sidelines due to injury, and will miss the first few matches of the season.
DC picked just seven overseas players at the auction, and will be tested for depth at the start of the season.
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#2 Overreliance on Pant
DC's top four might look intimidating on paper, but there are concerns in several areas for the batting unit. While Warner had a successful T20 World Cup 2021, he had an IPL 2021 to forget and was even dropped from the team. Marsh's injury concerns and opener Prithvi Shaw's struggles with consistency are well documented too.
Aside from Pant, who appears to be in a purple patch across formats, there is little reliable batting cushion. The No. 5 position will be in the hands of a domestic middle-order player, while Rovman Powell - the probable finisher - is not a known commodity in the league.
Although DC have all-rounders in Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur, the batting unit is a tad overreliant on Pant to consistently reach a good total.
#1 Lack of death-bowling options
One area where DC might truly struggle is in the final five overs of the innings. Thakur and Chetan Sakariya bowl better during the middle overs of the innings, while Nortje's ability to hit the deck hard is best utilised during the powerplay overs.
While Pant does have Mustafizur Rahman as an experienced death-bowling option, he is unavailable in the initial stages and might disrupt the team's combination to a significant extent. However, in the Bangladeshi pacer's absence, DC could see games slip out of their grasp during the crucial final stage of the bowling innings.