After the auction for 2020 edition of Indian Premier League, in this series we take a look at how the teams stack up and what their strengths, weaknesses are.
Breakdown of the DC squad with players bought at the auction highlighted in bold:
Delhi Capitals
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | Ishant Sharma | Axar Patel | Rishabh Pant |
| Prithvi Shaw | Amit Mishra | Harshal Patel | Alex Carey |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Avesh Khan | R Ashwin | |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Sandeep Lamichhane | Chris Woakes | |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Kagiso Rabada | Marcus Stoinis | |
| Jason Roy | Keemo Paul | Lalit Yadav | |
| Mohit Sharma | |||
| Tushar Deshpande |
There’s so much to like about Delhi since they became the Delhi Capitals. They got their backroom in order last season, got their team believing, got a good season under their belt and even saw a young captain start to grow in confidence. So, all they really needed to do in the off-season was to keep the sentiment going.
And they have managed to do it well. They made some big moves in the transfer window signing veterans Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin. It gave their young squad a fillip in terms of experience and when the going gets tough, this quality might just come to their rescue.
In the auction, their two main worries were finding a backup for Rishabh Pant and finding some good overseas all-rounders to supplement their Indian pack of Axar Patel, Harshal Patel and Ashwin. They managed to do that well by getting in Chris Woakes and Marcus Stoinis for the all-rounder slots and the talented Alex Carey as backup wicketkeeper.
The advantage of having someone like Pant in the squad is that he can play as a pure batsman too. So if Carey does strike form, it might be interesting to see whether they decide to play both wicketkeepers and rest Rahane. More importantly, it gives them options and that is what T20 cricket is all about.
And while we are talking of options, DC made some solid additions to their batting line-up as well. Just a few matches ago, Shimron Hetmyer gave India’s bowling a dressing down by hammering a scintillating century in Chennai. This came after he scored the most runs in the T20I series – 120 runs in three matches at a strike-rate of 151.89. His ability against spinners sets him apart from most other overseas batsmen and that could be key for DC.
In Jason Roy, they have someone who will push Shikhar Dhawan. The left-hander’s form has not been great in the recent past and Roy’s presence will mean that Dhawan will be kept on his toes. Internal competition is necessary for a team, it forces everyone to improve and from that perspective, this is a brilliant move.
It also helps that two of DC’s big movers last season, Prithvi Shaw and Pant, will come into the season wanting to prove themselves all over again. They won’t be taking it easy because they know they can’t. With the T20 World Cup coming later in 2020, they will be looking to put their best foot forward.
On the whole, DC are a sorted unit and Shreyas Iyer’s form with the Indian team should only give him even more confidence when the season actually begins. But will it lead them to the title that has eluded them?