IPL 2019: Delhi Capitals - The team bound to climb up the Leader board this year
Delhi Daredevils (former name) was the team to beat in the inaugural edition of the IPL as well as the subsequent year making it to the playoffs in both the seasons.
It would, however, be an understatement to say that their performances tapered off in the later editions of the tournament with the team not managing to reach the playoffs for the last six seasons.
They have consistently been in the bottom half of the table if not last in the standings. Safe to say that they have been the team with the worst record in IPL history. All that is set to change this year though as the franchise has most bases covered this time around.
Batsmen
The biggest strength of team DC is the pool of their Indian batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari are all proven performers at the international level.
Especially, the inclusion of Dhawan lends much-needed experience at the top of the order for the Delhi lineup. He has been drafted in from the Sunrisers this year with the Delhi Capitals trading 3 really promising players in Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma for his services.
Dhawan hasn't been in the best of forms of late with no major contributions in the recently concluded ODI and T20 series with Australia barring a decent showing in the Mohali ODI against Australia where he scored a fluent and dominant knock of 143 runs.
He, however, is a man cut out for the big stage and great things would be expected of him in the IPL as well as the upcoming World Cup. He would be one of the mainstays of this batting lineup and would be expected to get truckloads of runs for the Delhi Capitals.
Opening the innings with Dhawan would be Prithvi Shaw, in many ways, the find of the IPL for Delhi Capitals last year. He has made big strides in his cricketing career at this young age. From being the U-19 Captain for India in the 2018 edition of the tournament to playing Test match cricket the same year for Team India is no mean achievement.
He missed out on the India tour of Australia earlier this year due to an injury but has recovered fully and ready to take the next step.
He would be responsible for brisk starts and making full use of the powerplays. Much like Shaw, Pant had a sensational IPL last year managing 684 runs in 14 matches with the highest score of 128* against one of the most formidable bowling attacks in the IPL in SRH. The manner in which he reverse lapped Bhuvneshwar Kumar, one of the best death bowlers going around in IPL, as well as internationals, at will in that innings was a sight to behold and a testament to his supreme batting skills.
His IPL performance last year pretty much paved way for his international success this season. Though Pant has sealed his spot in test matches for India as the preferred wicket-keeping batsman, his performances in blue for India haven't been up to the mark of warranting a permanent slot in the playing XI. His ODI and T20 batting averages in Internationals are 23.25 and 19.42 respectively, much below his IPL career average of 35.65.
These numbers don't inspire much confidence yet he is touted to be one of the future superstars for India going into the next decade given his batting ability and temperament. The DC management would be expecting great things from Pant in this edition of the IPL as well.
The trump card this year though might be their stand-in captain from last year Shreyas Iyer. Iyer is a supremely talented batsman and it's a pity that he is not in the scheme of things for the No.4 slot in the Indian batting lineup for the upcoming World Cup. He has the game for this position and might very well win matches for DC batting at this slot.
In the recently concluded domestic T20 competition Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored 147 runs from 55 balls in one innings hitting 15 sixes in the process. He would be looking to lead from the front this season and his initial objective would be to grab a playoffs spot first.
Apart from the Indian batsmen, the Delhi line boasts of some batting firepower in their foreign recruits with the likes of Colin Munro and Colin Ingram representing the franchise. Munro is currently ranked 2nd in the T20 rankings for batsmen and is one of the most explosive hitters going around. Ingram, on the other hand, is a proven performer across various T20 leagues.
All Rounders
After the top-order batsmen, the Delhi team has the luxury of the two quality all-rounders in Chris Morris and Axar Patel, who, apart from their wonderful bowling ability, have great batting skills and can lend the much-needed balance to the squad.
Morris would be intending to use this IPL as a platform to regain his place in the South African squad currently occupied by Andile Phehlukwayo. He had a couple of stellar seasons in 2016 and 2017 as an all-rounder and had enhanced his reputation as an MVP valuable to any squad.
However, in the previous edition of the IPL, he wasn't up to the mark and barely managed to play 4 games for the franchise due to his inconsistent performances. He would surely be looking forward to turning it around this year.
Axar, on the other hand, is a bank as far as his bowling performance goes. He is known for his wicket-to-wicket line and can be a miserly operator in middle overs of the game. Where he has really turned it around in recent years is his ability with the bat making him a formidable bowling all-rounder.
Another guy in the all-rounders' list is Rahul Tewatia, a bowling all-rounder, who can be drafted into the playing XI if Amit Mishra is off-colour during the initial stages of the tournament. Apart from the big names, the player who made real contributions for DC last year in the latter stages of the tournament was Harshal Patel. He was instrumental with both bat and ball in winning the last few matches of the tournament for DC and virtually spoiling the party for some of the franchises which had chances of playoff qualification. Harshal could work as a backup for Chris Morris this time around if he fails to fire with the bat or ball. Delhi Capitals have also invested in the young Caribbean sensation Sherfane Rutherford who is known to be a clean hitter of the cricket ball and is expected to be a wild card for the Delhi Capitals this season.
Bowlers
Last season, the player that Delhi missed the most was Kagiso Rabada. The South African fast bowler is one of the best bowlers in the world at the moment and is an out-and-out strike bowler. The Delhi team would be hopeful of big things from him this season. Sharing the fast bowling workload with Rabada would be Trent Boult. He was the highest wicket-taker last season for Delhi with 18 wickets and would be looking to go one level up this time around. The Indian contingent of the fast bowling department comprises of Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, and Nathu Singh.
The team is pretty rounded-off in the spin department as well with the available services of Amit Mishra an IPL veteran in his own right, Axar Patel, Tewatia and the star kid from Nepal Sandeep Lamichhane. Lamichhane had a decent showing in the recently concluded Big Bash League and is winning over fans across the globe.
Given a chance in the playing 11, he might turn out to be a fan favorite. Amit Mishra has amassed 146 wickets in his IPL career and is vastly experienced having plied his trade with Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad previously apart from the Delhi franchise. He would be expected to rally the spin bowling troops to get the job done.
Team composition
The Delhi Capitals think tank is most likely to field 5 batsmen, 2 all-rounders and 4 bowling options within the playing XI during the initial stages of the tournament. Dhawan, Shaw, Pant, and Iyer look like certainties within the top 5 with the last batting spot being a toss-up between Munro and Ingram. Hanuma Vihari might feature in the XI if the management looks to go for an all Indian top order to accommodate the foreign bowling options in the team or in case they field 6 batting options within the playing XI.
The two all-rounders' slots at 6 & 7 would most likely be occupied by Morris and Axar. They would lend great balance to the team be it batting or bowling options. In the bowling department, Rabada and Boult look like certainties with one each among Ishant/Avesh and Mishra/Tewatia to fill the last available slots.
The team has proper backups for most positions in case of injuries or changes due to the poor form of individual players. DC is most likely to field the 5-2-4 combination of batsmen, all-rounders, and bowlers for the perfect mix.
With most bases covered, the only issue for Delhi Capitals seems to be lack of quality leadership within the team. Iyer was composed as the stand-in captain in the latter half of the tournament last year but lacks experience.
The appointment of Sourav Ganguly as an advisor, one of the most successful captains to have led the nation, might just turn out to be a masterstroke in this regard. He is known for instilling confidence in talented players and backing them during his tenure as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team. Iyer, Pant, Shaw might learn a lot from him and he might very well be running the show along with Ricky Ponting.
The only way for Delhi Capitals from here is up. They might be one of the teams to reach the playoffs this year upsetting teams with better track records in the history of the IPL in the process.