Delhi Daredevils have been the most consistently underachieving sides of the IPL since its inception. Can they break the slump this year ?
Delhi Daredevils began the IPL with a bang in 2008 when they finished atop the league standings and played till the semis. Again, in 2009, they qualified for the semis with players like Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, T Dilshan and AB De Villiers guiding the Delhi side.
Since then, however, it has been a tough ride for GMR-owned franchise who have only finished in playoffs spot in the last 7 seasons. Last year, under coach Paddy Upton and mentor Rahul Dravid, the team managed to finish a decent 6th in the league.
The Delhi side has gone massive overhauls in last two years both in management and players. Zaheer Khan leads the side which will aim to improve upon their performances from previous seasons. They have a dearth of all rounders in the side and a good mix of youth and experience that may just play a crucial factor this season.
Strengths:
They have a good young Indian batting lineup with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant. They have a good set of allrounders in the team – Angelo Matthews, Chris Morris, Corey Anderson and Carlos Braithwaite. The bowling lineup also looks pretty good with skipper Zaheer Khan supported by Aussie Patrick Cummins and talismanic South African pacer Kagiso Rabada.
Weakness:
The Indian bowling seems to be lacklustre with the exception of Mohammed Shami. Shahbaz Nadeem, Murugan Ashwin and Jayant Yadav are some spin options who will have to play out of their skins to prove useful. The departures of stalwarts JP Duminy and Quinton De Kock has hurt the Delhi side very much. The management will be rushing to find good replacements for them if they have to succeed this year.
Full Squad:
Existing players: Zaheer Khan (C), Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, CV Milind, Syed Ahmed, Pratyush Singh.
Players Bought:
Angelo Mathews (2 Cr), Corey Anderson (1 Cr), Kagiso Rabada (5 Cr), Pat Cummins (4.50 Cr), Ankit Bawne (INR 10 Lakhs), Aditya Tare (25 Lakhs), Murugan Ashwin (1 Cr), Navdeep Saini (10 lakh), Shashank Singh (10 Lakh)
Key Players: Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Angelo Matthews
SPORTZDOSEAPrediction: Tactical Genius of Rahul Dravid may pull them through to playoffs
List of Matches:
1.RCB vs DD, April 8, 2017, 20:00 IST
2.RPS vs DD, April 11, 2017, 20:00 IST
3.DD vs KXIP, April 15, 2017, 20:00 IST
4.DD vs KKR, April 17, 2017, 16:00 IST
5.SRH vs DD, April 19, 2017, 20:00 IST
6.DD vs MI, April 22, 2017, 16:00 IST
7.KKR vs DD, April 28, 2017, 16:00 IST
8.KXIP vs DD, April 30, 2017, 16:00 IST
9.DD vs SRH, May 2, 2017, 20:00 IST
10.DD vs GL, May 4, 2017, 20:00 IST
11.MI vs DD, May 6, 2017, 20:00 IST
12.GL vs DD, May 10, 2017, 20:00 IST
13.DD vs RPS, May 12, 2017, 20:00 IST
14.DD vs RCB, May 15, 2017, 20:00 IST
