IPL: Delhi Daredevils's first ever IPL XI- Where are they now?
Delhi Daredevils are the only active IPL franchise to have not yet reached the final of an IPL, despite being the part of the tournament since the inaugural edition. In the ten year history of IPL, Delhi Daredevils have qualified for the playoffs only thrice in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Delhi Daredevils had a roller coaster IPL 2008, where they managed to pip out Mumbai Indians to 4th place at the last minute, thereby reaching the semifinals of IPL 2008. In the semifinals, Delhi Daredevils lost to Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin.
Delhi Daredevils played their maiden IPL match against Rajasthan Royals on 19 April 2008 and won the match in a convincing manner by 9 wickets.
Currently, only four players who took the field for Delhi Daredevils in their maiden IPL match against Rajasthan Royals are still playing in the IPL, with only one of those players reuniting with Delhi Daredevils franchise in this year's IPL, after a long gap of 8 years.
So, let us look at the playing XI of Delhi Daredevils, which took the field in their maiden IPL encounter against Rajasthan Royals:
#1 Gautam Gambhir
Unsung hero of Indian Cricket, Gautam Gambhir was Delhi Daredevils's best batsman in IPL 2008, and finished the tournament as second highest run scorer overall, with 534 runs in 14 matches at an average and strike rate of 41.07 and 140.89 respectively. In Delhi Daredevils first ever IPL match, Gambhir scored unbeaten 58 runs off 46 balls, and hit 7 fours and a six, thereby helping Delhi Daredevils win the match.
Gautam Gambhir made his debut for India on April 2003 in an ODI match against Bangladesh, but become a regular member of Indian Team in all the 3 formats after inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, and was the chief architect behind India winning ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC ODI World Cup 2011 with his superb knocks of 75 and 97 in the finals of ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC ODI World Cup 2011 respectively.
Post World Cup 2011, Gambhir was dropped from Indian team due to poor form in January 2013, and since then, has made sporadic appearances in Indian Team and last played for India in November 2016.
In IPL apart from Delhi Daredevils, Gambhir was Captain of Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011-2017 and led the Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2011 and 2014. In this year's IPL, Gautam Gambhir is back as the captain of Delhi Daredevils after a long gap of eight years.
#2 Virender Sehwag (C)
Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag was a nightmare for bowlers during his playing days, because of his fearless batting which could change the course of the match in just a few overs. Virender Sehwag was captain of the Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural edition of IPL, and had the best batting strike among all batsmen in IPL 2008 with 184.54 and hit 21 sixes in the tournament.
Sehwag opened the innings for Delhi Daredevils in their maiden IPL match, along with Gautam Gambhir and scored 12 runs in just 4 balls before being dismissed by Shane Watson. Overall in IPL 2008, Sehwag scored 406 runs in 14 matches.
Sehwag made his debut for India on April 1999 in an ODI match against arch-rivals Pakistan. Since his debut, Sehwag was a regular member of Indian Team in all the 3 formats and was part of Indian Team that reached the finals of ICC World Cup 2003 under Saurav Ganguly, along with being the member of Indian Team that won ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC ODI World Cup 2011 under MS Dhoni.
Just like his opening partner Gautam Gambhir, Sehwag was dropped from Indian team post World Cup 2011 in 2013 due to poor form and retired from international cricket and IPL in October 2015. In IPL, Sehwag was part of Delhi Daredevils from 2008-2013 and later went on to play for Kings XI Punjab from 2014-2015. Post-retirement, Sehwag become a commentator and is currently the coach and mentor of Kings XI Punjab since IPL 2016.