Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a serious shoulder injury, as per reports.
Gautam Gambhir had stepped down from captaincy mid-season and instead of handing the leadership to a veteran, the new DC management opted for a young Shreyas Iyer as captain, and the gamble paid off as Capitals almost made it into the playoffs.
Some smart buys in IPL auctions and backing captain Shreyas Iyer led to Delhi Capitals qualifying for the playoffs in IPL 2019 and going all the way into the final in IPL 2020. Iyer also led from the front with the bat by making 519 runs in IPL 2020.
However, they are going to miss Shreyas Iyer’s services and leadership, as the Mumbaikar injured his shoulder severely during the first ODI against England and has been reportedly ruled out of the IPL 2021 due to the seriousness of his shoulder problem, which may require surgery.
This means the DC management will have to nominate another player as captain for the upcoming IPL 2021 season and they don’t have a shortage of potential candidates, with some of them already captained other franchises in the tournament in the previous editions.
Therefore, Team COC looks at five such captaincy candidates for Delhi Capitals for the IPL 2021.
AJINKYA RAHANE
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Rahane showed his captaincy caliber recently, by leading the Indian team to a 2-1 Test series win over Australia down under and has a very good record leading Team India. Rahane has captained in the IPL 25 times and has won 9 matches and lost 16.
However, apart from this record, there is one more thing that might be a factor in DC not opting for Rahane as captain, is that the right-hander doesn’t warrant a spot in the playing XI for the entire IPL 2021.
The Mumbaikar may be slotted in for Shreyas Iyer, but there are many other options for DC to choose from.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN
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Dhawan has been in the leadership group of many teams he has played for in the IPL and even in the Indian team setup as well, but has never been seen as a prime contender for captaincy anywhere, and even when he had captained SRH, his performance was not up to par and was replaced by Daren Sammy mid-season.
But since he was the second in command in IPL 2020 and he captained in a couple of matches, DC might have a look at him as well.
PRITHVI SHAW
Prithvi Shaw is quite young, but had led the India U19 team to the 2018 Youth World Cup victory and has always seen as a potential captaincy material in whichever team he plays. He is yet to captain any franchise in the IPL, having made his debut in 2018, but his record for DC is very good.
However, he had a horrid run in IPL 2020, which led to him losing his spot in the playing XI and though he is a terrific captaincy material, the DC might go for someone with experience, given it is only for one season.
STEVE SMITH
He captained the Rising Pune Supergiant to the final of the IPL 2017 in what was an unpopular move given that he had taken over from MS Dhoni. However, the Rajasthan Royals released him ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, as they finished at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2020.
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Steve Smith was bought for his base price of INR 2 crores by Delhi Capitals in what can be called a steal. He has been a brilliant captain for Australia in the past and has done well in IPL as well, winning 25 matches out of 43 captained and lost 17 games.
But his situation is the same as that of Ajinkya Rahane, as he might not have a fixed spot in the playing XI with Marcus Stoinis, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, and Shimron Hetmyer being preferred for the four overseas players’ slots.
R ASHWIN
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R Ashwin parted ways with Punjab Kings amicably and picked 13 wickets in 15 games for Delhi Capitals at the economy of 7.66 and picked early wickets for his team in power play overs in IPL 2021. He is the prime candidate for captaincy given his experience in international and IPL cricket.
He has a sharp cricketing mind and is not averse to taking risks and Delhi Capitals may benefit from his maverick ways of leadership and may even go all the way this time, winning the IPL title.