Delhi Capitals had a promising start when they changed their name from Delhi Daredevils. They reached the playoffs in 2019 and made it to the finals in 2020, showing they had potential. However, in the last three years, they’ve struggled and didn’t make it past the early rounds.
To make things better, they’ve changed their captain not once, but twice. In 2021, Shreyas Iyer was replaced by Rishabh Pant, and now Axar Patel takes over. Before the big auction last November, they decided to let go of star player Pant. During the auction, Delhi Capitals was very active and brought in big names like KL Rahul, Mitchell Starc, and Faf du Plessis, plus some exciting newcomers.
Strengths: A Strong Team and Fast Bowlers
Delhi Capitals could have a powerful top order with players like Jake Fraser-McGurk, Du Plessis, Rahul, and Tristab Stubbs. Axar Patel played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy win, and he may bat at number five. Stubbs could follow him at number six. While losing Harry Brook affected their batting depth, their starting lineup is still strong.
Mitchell Starc is a top bowler, but he might take some time to get back into form since he hasn’t played cricket in a while. Along with T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, and Dushmantha Chameera, they have a solid pace attack. Mohit Sharma can also elevate their performance if he plays like he did for Gujarat Titans last season.
Weaknesses: Lack of Spin Support and Wicketkeeping Concerns
Delhi has two excellent spinners, Axar and Kuldeep Yadav, but they don’t have much backup for them. KL Rahul is expected to be the wicketkeeper, but it’s confusing why they kept Abhishek Porel as well. If Porel plays, it will be interesting to see if he can handle being the main wicketkeeper at just 22 years old.
New Faces
Ashutosh Sharma is not new, but after playing 11 games last season, fans will be eager to see if he can shine like he did for Punjab Kings. If he does well, he could be in the running for the Indian T20 team.
Prediction
Delhi Capitals have a strong team and could make it past the league stage. However, they have depth issues that might hurt their playoff chances. If Kuldeep or Axar gets injured, it could damage their spin strategy and lower their odds.
Delhi Capitals Full Squad:
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel, Mitchell Starc, KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-McGurk, T. Natarajan, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Mukesh Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari.
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