IPL 2020: 3 players who could be surplus at Delhi Capitals
IPL 2020 is just two months away as the cricket universe awaits the thirteenth edition of the world’s biggest T20 league. One of the unluckiest franchises of the tournament, Delhi Capitals (DC) reversed their fortunes by changing their name and style of play in 2019. Earlier known as Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi-based franchise had always struggled to make it big in the tournament despite having a star-studded line-up.
Last year, the owners renamed their team as Delhi Capitals with a new approach of keeping their faith in Indian talent. They finished in third position thanks to the perfect execution of the game-plan by Shreyas Iyer and co. The Capitals had a strong squad in 2019 and the think tank has further bolstered their line-up by signing the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Marcus Stoinis.
Courtesy of so many options present in the team, the following 3 players would prove surplus for DC in IPL 2020.
#3 Jason Roy
Delhi Capitals already had Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan as their primary openers. To strengthen their top order, they traded in Ajinkya Rahane from the Rajasthan Royals. So, they have three supreme Indian openers present in their squad who have a good amount of experience of playing in the IPL.
Jason Roy is a special talent who has done extraordinary things in T20 cricket however, he may end up warming the bench for Delhi Capitals for the entire IPL 2020 season because of the aforementioned Indian trio's availability. Talking about his record in the IPL, Roy has played 8 matches, aggregating 179 runs.
The right-handed opener has an average of 29.83 in the IPL while his highest score is 91*. Although these numbers are up to the mark, the Englishman is unlikely to feature in the playing XI of his franchise.
#2 Keemo Paul
West Indian fast bowling all-rounder, Keemo Paul was retained by the Delhi Capitals ahead of the auction. He played his first IPL season in 2019 and; he had a decent outing for the Delhi-based franchise as the right-arm pacer scalped 9 wickets in 8 matches. Also, he scored 18 runs and took 5 catches on the field.
His strike rate of 18.11 reflects his wicket-taking ability but the Caribbean player’s economy rate of 8.72 may keep him away from the playing XI. Delhi Capitals have the trio of Chris Woakes, Kagiso Rabada, and Ishant Sharma in their pace bowling attack. Former IPL Purple Cap winner, Mohit Sharma is also present in the squad.
Besides, Delhi's two all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Harshal Patel possess the same talent as Paul. Looking at the recent form of Stoinis and Patel, it seems like Delhi would ignore the West Indian’s services in IPL 2020. He could have been a match-winner for other IPL franchises but Paul will prove surplus for the Capitals.
#1 Tushar Deshpande
Despite having a solid group of Indian players, Delhi Capitals opted to sign two uncapped Indian players in IPL Auction 2020. The first was batting all-rounder, Lalit Yadav while the other player was Mumbai's medium pace bowler, Tushar Deshpande.
In T20 cricket, the 24-year-old has played 20 T20 matches where he has taken 31 wickets while giving away runs at an economy rate of 7.98. His best figures of 4/19 reflect his wicket-taking ability but the pressure of playing in the IPL is totally different.
As discussed ahead, Delhi Capitals have a fantastic pool of fast bowlers comprising several international players. Among the uncapped fast bowlers, Avesh Khan will be the team management's first choice. So, Deshpande would be surplus to DC.
Also read: IPL 2020 | Delhi Capitals's strongest possible line-up