Delhi Daredevils have been one franchise that has never kept the core of the side same. This time around as well, they go into the IPL with a bunch of fresh faces, looking to end franchise”s title drought.
Because of presence of Rahul Dravid in the dressing room the trend has been towards roping in young guns. And they have successfully managed to get best out of them last season.
Delhi Daredevils were jolted when Quinton de Kock”s IPL 2017 came to a premature end because of a finger injury and JP Duminy decided to give IPL a miss stating personal reasons. To make the matters worse, cloud hangs over Mathews” participation in the league courtesy hamstring injury.
Strengths – Delhi Daredevils have got a number of good fast bowling all rounders like Morris, Brathwaite, Anderson and co. Their all round abilities give balance to the side. Also they have got a bunch of budding Indian talents with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson, Rishab Pant on whom they can always bank on to deliver the goods.
Weakness – Their batting line up is thin on experience in absence of Duminy. Even though they have got a potent pace attack, they don”t have an experienced spinner barring Amit Mishra as Jayant Yadav and Nadeem are yet to prove themselves in T20s.
X-Factor – Kagiso Rabada was one of the most sought after players at the auction and Delhi have managed to have him in their ranks. Fast-bowling sensation in modern times, he has got ability to land yorkers right at batsman”s foot at good pace.
Probable XI – Shreyas Iyer, Rishab Pant (wk), Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Sam Billings, Corey Anderson, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammad Shami/Jayant Yadav, Zaheer Khan (C).
Shreyas Iyer, who was the star in 2015 is likely to open with Rishab Pant. Delhi Daredevils have let go one of their openers Mayank Agarwal to Pune. Middle order will consist of Nair, Samson, Billings. Corey Anderson and Chris Morris will assume the role of fast bowling all rounders. Zaheer khan will spearhead pace attack which has KG Rabada. Amit Mishra will be the frontline spinner and DD will choose between Shami and Jayant Yadav depending upon conditions on the particular day.
Squad : Zaheer Khan (C), Pat Cummins, Jayant Yadav, Chris Morris, Pratyush Singh, Sam Billings, Mohammad Shami, Kagiso Rabada Shahbaz Nadeem, Carlos Brathwaite, Shreyas Iyer, Angelo Mathews, Sanju Samson, Corey Anderson, Rishabh Pant, Amit Mishra, Chama Milind, SK Ahmed, Ankeet Bawne, Aditya Tare, M Ashwin, Navseep Saini, Shashank Singh, Karun Nair
Team Schedule :-
Match 5: RCB vs Delhi Daredevils, April 8 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 9: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Delhi Daredevils, April 11 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 15: Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab, April 15 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 18: Delhi Daredevils vs KKR, April 17 2017, 4:00 PM IST
Match 21: SRH vs Delhi Daredevils, April 19 2017, 8:00 PM IST*
Match 25: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils, April 22 2017, 8:00 PM IST*
Match 32: KKR vs Delhi Daredevils, April 28 2017, 4:00 PM IST
Match 36: Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils, April 30 2017, 4:00 PM IST
Match 40: Delhi Daredevils vs SRH, May 2 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 42: Delhi Daredevils vs Gujarat Lions, May 4 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 45: Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians, May 6 2017, 8:00 PM IST*
Match 50: Gujarat Lions vs Delhi Daredevils, May 10 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 52: Delhi Daredevlis vs Rising Pune Super Giant, May 12 2017, 8:00 PM IST
Match 56: Delhi Daredevils vs RCB, May 15 2017, 8:00 PM IST
(Please Note: Matches with * at the end are the revised date and time of the matches)
– by Atharva Apte
