IPL 2018 – Delhi Daredevils Team Preview

Captain: Gautam Gambhir.

Coach: Ricky Ponting.

Home Ground: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

IPL 2017 Result: 6th in points table.

Best Result: Semi finals in 2008, 2009; playoffs in 2012.

Released: Zaheer Khan, Ankit Bawne, Khaleel Ahmed, Corey Anderson, Murugan Ashwin, Sam Billings, Carlos Brathwaite, Pat Cummins, Quinton de Kock, Angelo Mathews, Chama Milind, Mohammed Shami, Karun Nair, Pratyush Singh, Navdeep Saini, Sanju Samson, Shahshank Singh, Aditya Tare.

Purchased: Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammad Shami, Gautam Gambhir, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Prithvi Shaw, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sayan Ghosh, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Delhi Daredevils is another team that has played all ten seasons of the Indian Premier League thus far, but have never won the title. Let alone winning, they have not even reached a final so far. Given their current squad, I believe that this team will continue to struggle going in to the 2018 season.

They retained Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Chris Morris for IPL 2018. Iyer seems to be the next best thing in Indian cricket, while Morris has proved in the last couple of seasons, who he can single-handedly change cricket matches, with the ball as well as with the bat lower down the order. The batting will depend highly on Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy, Colin Munro and the newly appointed captain Gautam Gambhir. Junior Dala replaced Morris in between the season.

Gambhir has been one of the most consistent batsmen in the IPL over the years, while Maxwell has been a revelation since his debut 3 seasons back. However, both Roy and Munro have not been very good on Indian pitches. Neither has Corey Anderson, an all-rounder who hasn’t bowled much in recent years. Overall, DD batting = decent, not too reliable.

Now let’s look at the bowling. Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Shami were supposed to be the strike bowlers. Well, Shami is carrying a lot of baggage coming into IPL 2018 with his marriage on the rocks, while Rabada has just been ruled out of the season with a back injury. A lot will now rest on Trent Boult and the domestic Indian bowlers. Liam Plunkett was added to the side for Rabada.

Delhi Daredevils Squad for IPL 2018:

Gautam Gambhir (c), Shreyas Iyer, ~~Chris Morris~~, Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammed Shami, ~~Kagiso Rabada~~, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Daniel Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Trent Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala.

Last year was a year where Delhi Daredevils showed some brilliance, right from disciplined bowling, to smashing starts in the powerplay overs, to swift fielding, but I guess they’re one of those teams that just find it difficult to get over the line. And that’s where they are very consistent – not getting over the line. I see glimpses of fantastic cricket, but DD not going too far in IPL 2018. Watch out for the young Prithvi Shaw who they picked up in the IPL 2018 auction.

Delhi Daredevils Squad for IPL 2018:

Keep watching our Cricket Scoops space for more cricket and IPL related content!