The perennial under-achievers, (ex) Delhi Daredevils, last reached the play-offs in the 2012 edition, which still remains their best performance in the IPL. They are yet to reach the finals and to add to the ignominy have been the wooden spooners in 3 out of the last 6 years. There can be no debate on whether the record is bad, the debate can only be on how bad the record is!
The management, for this term, have gone ahead and made a host of changes. To start off with, the franchise has been rechristened as Delhi Capitals with the hope that the change of name can bring about a change of fortunes. Sourav Ganguly has been roped in as the advisor and will be closely working with the head coach, Ricky Ponting. And as always, they have made wholesale changes to the squad, this has become a norm over the past few years.
DC had a few world-class openers in their ranks last year, however that was where DC struggled a great deal. Bringing back the hometown boy, Dhawan, should go a long way in addressing that issue. They have also got in Ingram, who has a very impressive record in the format and is someone who has huge amount of experience in T20s. Rutherford, a highly explosive batsman, is pretty much unknown outside Windies circles, but can become a household name by the end of the season if given enough chances.
Team after 2019 Player Auction
In:- Dhawan(traded), Ankush Bains, Hanuma Vihari, Jalaj Saxena, Keemo Paul, Sherfane Rutherford, Colin Ingram, B Ayyappa, Nathu Singh, Ishant Sharma
Out:- Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Gurkeerat Mann, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohamad Shami, Dan Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Junior Dala, Liam Plunkett, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh
Strengths
DC have got an extremely aggressive top 6, probably one of the most aggressive batting orders going around this IPL. If each one plays to his potential, this side can surely be in contention for the title.
Amit Mishra has been one of the best bowlers in IPL. Highly experienced, brilliant with his variation, Mishra has 3 hat-tricks to his name in the IPL. He should hold the key in the DC bowling line-up.
Weakness
Their strength can very easily end up as their weakness as they do not seem to have any batsman who can hold the innings together in case of a collapse. Though, Dhawan and Ingram are highly experienced, it remains to be seen whether they can curb their natural instincts and drop anchor when required.
Though playing Rabada and Boult seems to be the best option for DC, it seems highly unlikely as this will leave DC with only two other spots for internationals. So, the onus will lie on the Indian pacemen to do the job most of the times. However, the inexperience among the Indian fast bowlers, barring Ishant Sharma, is likely to cost them a position in the play-offs once again!
Predicted Starting XI
Shikhar Dhawan
Prithvi Shaw
Shreyas Iyer
Colin Ingram
Rishabh Pant
Chris Morris
Axar Patel
Amit Mishra
Kagiso Rabada/ Sherfane Rutherford(will play in the middle-order)
Trent Boult
Avesh Khan
A star-studded support staff and a formidable batting line-up still won’t take DC to the play-offs is what I feel. The main reason being the inexperience in the Indian bowling attack.
Expected position in the league table: Bottom half