IPL 2016 Delhi Daredevils Predicted XI
The Delhi Daredevils have been a bit of an enigma in the Indian Premier League. They have finished at the top of the league table on two separate occasions, a league record. First, in 2009 under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir boosted by the performances of Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers and in 2012 where an inspired Kevin Petersen carried them to the top of the table. On both occasions however, they faltered when it really mattered and are yet to contest for the IPL trophy in a final. A whole bunch of superstar players have worn the Delhi colours including Glenn McGrath, Daniel Vettori, David Warner, Mahela Jayawardane, Ross Taylor, Virender Sehwag to name a few and it’s fair to say that the Delhi based franchise hasn’t done justice to the talent they had at their disposal.
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In 2015, they had a largely forgettable season finishing 7th on the table, just ahead of Kings XI Punjab. The GMR Group owned franchise will be hoping it’s 9th time lucky this year around. Funnier things have happened in the past in the IPL; for example, in 2009, the Deccan Charges went on to lift the IPL trophy after finishing at the bottom of the table the very previous year.
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With an eye to improve the balance of the squad, the team management decided to retain a strong Indian core including the likes of Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreyas Iyer & Zaheer Khan. Joining them would be South African superstars Imran Tahir, JP Duminy, Chris Morris and Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile. In the 2016 auction, Delhi were aggressive in their bidding and bought a total of 14 players spending . The most eye catching being WT20 winner Carlos Brathwaite, who now seems to be a bargain at 4.2 Crore. The other signings that caught the eye include young Sanju Samson, South African all rounder Chris Morris & Karun Nair of the Rajasthan Royals.
This year the Delhi side will be coached by Paddy Upton and they pulled off a major scoop by hiring Rahul Dravid, India’s U19 coach as mentor. The two worked wonders at Rajasthan Royals and will be looking to replicate the magic in Delhi. They were known to back the youngsters and the likes of Karun Nair & Sanju Samson thrived under their guidance. Keep an eye out for the youngsters in the Delhi squad including 18 year old Risbabh Pant, the swashbuckling left hander turned heads at the U19 World Cup earlier this year in Bangaldesh with his most impressive performance being a 100 against Namibia earning him a whopping 1.9 crore contract (base price 10 lakh). He is joined by the likes of 21 year old Akhil Herwadkar from Mumbai & 16 year old Mahipal Lormor who also impressed in the U19 World Cup.
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Having laid the groundwork, we now move to the difficult part of choosing a predicted playing XI that Zaheer Khan will lead out on the 10th of April when they take on multiple IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
Playing XI:
1) Shreyas Iyer, Age: 21
Shreyas Iyer had a great IPL 2015 striking a big claim to open the batting this year as well. The 21 year old from Mumbai impressed everyone with his consistency in a disappointing season for the Delhi team.
IPL 2015 Quick Facts:
Matches – 14
Runs – 439
Average – 33.76
Strike Rate – 128.36
High score – 83 (v Mumbai Indians)
He has been building a reputation for himself displaying very impressive form for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He helped Mumbai clinch their 41st title with a Man of the Match performance in the final.
For this reason, we pip him to start ahead of Bangalore born Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order. However, a run of bad games could see him lose his spot at the top of the batting order.