IPL 2018: Delhi Daredevils squad analysis
It is with the return of Gautam Gambhir to his home city after six years that the Delhi Daredevils are looking to clinch their maiden IPL title. Gambhir, who has had a successful stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous years, led the KKR side to two titles as captain.
It is the left hander's leadership that is credited for transforming a KKR team from an inconsistent side, who had never qualified for the last leg of the tournament till then, to one of the most consistent teams of the tournament.
Delhi Daredevils will look for a similar inspiring leadership effort from the southpaw. The franchise made a smart move by retaining South Africa’s Chris Morris and the Indian players Rishabh Pant (1555 runs from 21 First-Class matches) and Shreyas Iyer (3989 runs from 46 First-class matches) who have proved themselves time and again at the domestic level.
Moreover, the franchise will have high hopes from the Under 19 World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw, who came into limelight when he was just 15 years old after he made 546 runs in the prestigious Harris Shield Tournament and made a place for himself in the record books.
His teammate in the Under 19 world Cup, Manjot Kalra also has a good reputation and will look to give his best for the side, when he gets a chance.
Apart from these batting options, DD also has the likes of Colin Munro, Jason Roy and Glenn Maxwell. The pace attack seems to have the firepower too with Mohammed Shami, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult in the Delhi squad.
With a set of spinners with impressive IPL and T20 records in the side, it is time for the inconsistent Delhi Daredevils to make the best of the available resources they have in their ranks and change their fortunes by ending the drought of an IPL title.
The Delhi Daredevils play their first match in the Indian Premier League on the 8th of April 2018 when they play against the Kings XI Punjab at 4:00 pm (IST).
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (C), Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammed Shami, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shabaz Nadeem, Dan Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh, Trent Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichanne, Sayan Ghosh