Delhi Capitals (DC) – IPL 2019
5 min read
Introduction
For the first time in many years, the Delhi franchisee had a sensible auction, making only necessary bids and buying only necessary players. If I was from the Delhi management, I’d be a happy bloke. That being said, Delhi Capitals enter the tournament boasting of a great roster and it falls on the captain Shreyas Iyer and the coach Ricky Ponting to leverage this beautiful opportunity that presents itself to them.
Suggestive Playing XIs
Mihir’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- Going by pure numbers, DC has the youngest team in the tournament. They would therefore be fielding young legs and new-age athletic fielders who would serve as an extra bowler.
- With the acquisition of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithwi Shaw ascertaining his return from injury, DC possess a strong top-order batting. In fact, they could afford to put a little bit of extra pressure on this top order and play an extra bowler or all-rounder in the process.
- Another thing about DC’s squad is that they possess a match winner in almost every individual.
weaknesses
- DC lack a quality spinner, a spinner who gets automatically selected in the playing XI. With only 2 frontline spinners, 1 of them being a foreigner, I expect DC playing spinning all-rounders along with frontline seamers.
- Elaborating a bit more on the bowling front, I’d also say that DC has a weakened bowling lineup as compared to their batting lineup.
- Barring Hanuma Vihari, who may or may not feature in the playing XI, no other member of the squad finger spins with their right arm. The bowling could be found wanting against left-handers.
opportunities
- The biggest opportunity DC have is to capitalise on their young batting and hope that at least 1 bowler ‘puts their hand up’ every match.
- While DC’s squad is not something I would call versatile, they have the reserves to very well play horses for courses.
- A rechristened DC team has the perfect opportunity to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the first time.
threats
- As has always been the case with any Delhi team led by any captain – implosion. This franchisee always seems to go off the tracks midway during the season or fail to get on the tracks altogether.
- Delhi has also often been guilty of blooming too late and putting themselves in difficult positions. This also serves as a major threat to Delhi’s campaign.
- There is a lure of playing Sandeep Lamichhane in the team which would mean either of Ingram, Morris, Boult or Keemo could miss out and which could also horribly backfire.
key player
Rishabh Pant –> No surprises in guessing this name. Since the last IPL, Rishabh Pant has made his ODI and TEST debut for India, scored Test centuries in England and Australia and named as the Emerging Player of the Year by ICC. If he can pick up where he left off last season, DC are in for a great season. His chatting ability behind the stumps could be something new in the IPL, if only the broadcasters would switch off commentary for some time.
prediction
Given the quality of the roster, depth in the balance and the form of majority of key players, I am inclined to say that DC have great chance at making the playoffs, although it might take a game or 2 to find the right combination.
Samrat’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- Indian core batting unit consisting of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw at the top, with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to follow. The 4 have been in sensational form in T20 cricket.
- The team also have a bulk of good all-rounders in Chris Morris, Hanuma Vihari and Axar Patel.
- The fast bowling department, too, looks settled, with the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult.
weaknesses
- Chris Morris’s Form and the team lacks a good T20 Indian bowler. Ishant Sharma is their only T20 bowler, but he too has been a bit shaky in this format of the game.
- Lacking a leader. Shreyas Iyer is a bit inexperienced when it comes to captaining a sides comprising of International players and some other superstars.
opportunities
- Players like Prithwi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer have lot of ground to cover and take responsibilities for the team and prove their skills in the form which will help both – them as well as the team.
threats
- Competitors with good batting unit can trouble while chasing targets against Delhi Capital.
key player
Shikhar Dhawan –> Back in his home team and he’ll be playing 7 out of 14 games at the Kotla while bringing greater batting stability to the team. He might just turn heads and pull a “K L Rahul” in 2019.
prediction
Yes, one of the most balanced teams this year, in my opinion would make it to the playoffs.
Roster
