Delhi Capitals have acquired some of the most established names in the IPL but they could run into some issues in their quest for a maiden title.
Delhi Capitals seemed to have sorted out their perennial lack of competitive edge perennial lack of competitive edge when they reached the second qualifier in 2019, the final in 2020 and the second qualifier in 2021, the first three years of their existence after they shed their erstwhile name Delhi Daredevils. However, this has been followed by three years of them failing to make it past the league stage. This has led to DC changing their captains twice in the last five years, first by switching Shreyas Iyer with Rishabh Pant in 2021 and now choosing to replace the latter the latter with Axar Patel.
DC have two world-class spinners in Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav but little experience in that department apart from them. (AP)
While they let go of a big name in Pant before the mega auction in November last year, DC were arguably the most active franchise during the event itself. They eventually landed some established names like KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc and Faf du Plessis along with veterans and newbies who made some big splashes with their performances like Mohit Sharma, Ashutosh Sharma and Karun Nair. All in all, this means DC can definitely go in with a squad with oodles of experience and two former IPL captains in Rahul and Du Plessis.
Strength: A powerpacked top 4 and pace department
DC could potentially field a top four of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Du Plessis, Rahul and Tristab Stubbs this season. Captain Axar’s performances at No.5 were integral to India winning the Champions Trophy and so it won’t be much of a surprise if he plays at that number for DC as well this season. If so, Tristan Stubbs will come in at No.6. If not, well Stubbs and Axar fit quite perfectly at No.5 and No.6 respectively anyhow. Harry Brook’s last minute pullout may have hurt the depth in the batting lineup a bit but DC’s first choice remains quite the lineup.
In Starc, DC have an obvious spearhead for their pace attack, although he may look a little rusty early in the season as he has played no cricket for nearly two months. Throw in T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar and Dushmantha Chameera and that makes for quite a potent set of options to pick from. They also have the wily Mohit Sharma, who can take DC’s season to a different level if he replicates the form he hit in the 2023 season for Gujarat Titans.
Weakness: Lack of spin depth, wicketkeeping situation
Make no mistake, DC have two world class spinners on Axar and Kuldeep Yadav who can win matches on their own. However, scratch that shiny surface and you don’t really see any experienced backup for the pair.
KL Rahul looks set to take the gloves for them and so while that may not be much of a weakness, there is no doubt that DC’s push for the former LSG captain has raised questions as to why they chose to retain Abhishek Porel. There is a good chance that DC could stick with Porel behind the stumps simply because of this and if so, it remains to be seen whether the 22-year-old can live up to the task of being the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
Fresh Faces
Ashutosh Sharma isn’t quite a fresh face any more considering he played 11 games last season but it will be interesting to see if he can do this season what he did last year for Punjab Kings. If so, Abhishek would surely be starting to knock on the doors of the Indian T20 team.
Prediction
Delhi Capitals certainly have the squad to make it past the league stage but there are nagging depth issues throughout the eleven that puts question marks over whether they can survive the playoffs. An injury to Kuldeep or Axar will put their spin plans in jeopardy which surely reduce whatever their chances were before that in half.
