Can Delhi Daredevils win their first IPL?

The fifth season of Indian Premier League is going to kick start from 4 April.  It will be again that time of the year when everyone will be viewing the most entertaining form of cricket. IPL has been a success story in itself. The past four seasons had been a hit and has potentially made India the mecca of cricket.

Among all the teams in the IPL, I am a fan of Delhi Daredevils team. In the first two editions, DD played well to be in the top four teams. Infact in the second edition they were table toppers in league stage and were favorites to win the title but all the hopes were put to rest in the semi-final by a rampant Adam Gilchrist. In the third edition DD couldn’t manage to finish in the top four teams and had its worst performance last year when they were the bottom most team in the league table.

The dismal performance in the last season was not at all surprising. It was made all the more easier by the sheer stupidity of team managers. Really, what was the team management thinking when they did not retain some top class players last year like Gautam Gambhir, Dilshan, Devilliers, Vettori, Dough Bollinger and Dinesh Karthik. They traded all these players to other teams. As a result the only top players remaining in the team were David Warner and the captain Virender Sehwag. Both unpredictable to say the least. The injury to the captain, which made him leave the tournament in middle, added to the team woes. In short, last season was not something to cheer about if you were a Delhi Daredevils fan.

Coming to this season, the management has amended their mistakes and have done it handsomely. They have added a wide array of players to the team.

Delhi Daredevils has one of the most explosive, yet unpredictable opening batsmen pair in the form of Virender Sehwag and David Warner. Warner is in his prime form which is a good indication for the team. Till last year DD was lacking a batsman who can steer the innings, glued at one end. This year they have found an answer in the form of Mahela Jayawardhane. And mind you, the form in which Jayawardhane is, he can be the most destructive batsman in IPL. Then in the middle order we have the flamboyant Kevin Pietersen, the man of the tournament in 2010 T20 World Cup. Pietersen with his all round skills is an added advantage to the team. Then we have the destructive Ross Taylor who can send the ball all over the ground with a flick of his wrist.

The spin department will be headed by Van-der- Merve. In the pace bowling we have the duo of Indian quickies in Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Then there is Morne Morkel, the pacer from South Africa who can rip into any batting lineup. Irfan Pathan has shown promise in his bowling and we can expect the good old swinging from him too. His ability to hit sixes will boost the run rate in the later stage of the game.

In addition to these we have Naman Ojha and Venugopal Rao who can be the mainstay in the middle. Andre Russel will boost the team composition and Aaron Finch can come handy whenever required.

In the coaching department we have the expert guidance of Eric Simmons from whom our bowlers can learn a lot. The team will ultimately depend on which four foreign players are played in the playing 11. This will surely be a headache to the captain and the coach, because in choosing four players from the foreign talent, we have got is an uphill task. The team has every weapon in its armor to defeat any team in IPL. The captaincy of Virender Sehwag will be helped by the presence of Mahela, the most intelligent captain around these days, and Kevin on the field.

I, like every fan of Delhi Daredevils team, am looking eagerly for the team to win the final on 27 May.