Delhi Capitals (DC) – IPL 2021
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Introduction
It has been characteristic of the Delhi franchisee over many auctions – they try their hand at almost more players than any other franchisee. Even before that, they end up releasing a lot of players and therefore having to buy a lot of players in the auction to fill the roster. In fairness, this year, all they released and subsequently purchased were backups to their otherwise continued core. A small glance at their activity during the auction and one quickly realises that all they were looking out for were backups and unsurprisingly, they did not purchase any player for an exuberantly high price.
Suggestive Playing XI by Mihir Vohra
Mihir’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- A well-balanced core, with well-defined roles for everyone and well-defined everyone for the roles, if you catch my drift. One of the few teams with “experienced youngsters”.
- DC has a solid bench strength, especially when it comes to quality Indian players, which should allow them rotation without many, or indeed any, collateral chopping and changing.
- Considering DC play 5 matches at Kolkata, 4 at Ahmedabad, 3 at Mumbai and 2 at Chennai, I would say they have a varied enough bowling lineup and skilled enough batting lineup to handle these variations in conditions.
weaknesses
- If anything, DC lack a quality 3rd spinner. On turning or tired pitches – maybe not so much as other years since we did not have a full-fledged domestic and international season at home – they may be found wanting.
- Their fast bowling duties are, baring a decision by Pant to not play Nortje and Rabada, shared by foreigners. An injury or lack in form for any of them would mean getting in an Indian seamer, which would also mean an Indian batsman sits out. This could hamper the balance of an otherwise solid playing XI.
opportunities
- Opportunity for Rishabh Pant – I will go out on a limb here and say that the biggest opportunity and the talking point of this season is going to Rishabh Pant’s captaincy. Let’s face it, Virat Kohli is 32 and has got about 4 years of captaincy remaining, give or take. India would be on the lookout for a new captain to take over from Kohli. Having more or less cemented his place in the Indian team as a batsman and wicket-keeper it is now towards captaincy. If Rishabh Pant does become the captain of India in the future, remember folks, this will be one of the unique season where we will get to see the India’s past, current and potentially future captain, each captaining their respective franchisee.
- Opportunity for the team to go one step further than last year.
The opportunities and threats revolve around just 1 incident – the injury and absence of their regular captain, Shreyas Iyer.
threats
- The absence of Shreyas Iyer could throw the middle order into turmoil; it was around him that the power hitters used to up the scoring rate. This role will either have to be taken up by Ajinkya Rahane who doesn’t really guarantee a spot in the XI or by Marcus Stoinis.
- Not all players thrive under captaincy. We don’t yet know what kind Rishabh Pant is but there is indeed a threat that his batting can take a toll due to the added pressure of captaincy.
player from unsold
Gurkeerat Singh —> Snapped up as a late replacement by KKR, he was unsold when I shortlisted this player for this section. He would have slotted into the lower middle order and could have provided a flourish at the end of the innings should Rishabh Pant bat higher and not always be there till the end. He would definitely have been a good backup.
player from another team
Shakib al-Hasan —> Given Morgan, Narine, Russel and Cummins to be certain starters, Shakib Al Hasan will be rendered as a backup in the KKR the lineup. Considering that, I personally feel Al Hasan would have been a better bet for DC, especially as first choice over Woakes for an extra spinning option and better batting abilities.
key player
Rishabh Pant —> It has to be the captain, hasn’t it! Well, I would have gone with Pant even if Shreyas Iyer was present. Given Pant’s new-found form, I think bulk of scoring, especially finishing would have to be done by Rishabh Pant. Being captain makes his contributions all the more important.
prediction
A spot in the playoffs is almost a given. The absence of Shreyas Iyer has hampered the chances a little bit but DC have a lot of Indian batsmen in their ranks. Whether they go to the finals and win the IPL remains to be seen.
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