IPL 2018: Team Preview – Delhi Daredevils – New look DD ready to rewrite history

Delhi Daredevils are yet to win an IPL title.

Delhi Daredevils will look to improve their fortunes this IPL 2018

Delhi Daredevils (DD) is the perennial underperformers of the Indian Premier League history.

Delhi went into the IPL 2018 auction with three players retained before the auction. They retained Chris Morris, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer for IPL 2018. During the auction, DD went after the players they wanted in order to perform wonderfully in the upcoming IPL 11 season.

They bought Gautam Gambhir for Rs 2.8 crore, bringing back Gambhir to his home side. They also acquired some foreign talents like Jason Roy, Glenn Maxwell, and T20I record holder Colin Munro for decent prices in the auction. Though they lost Pat Cummins to Mumbai Indians, they bought Trent Boult in his place, along with Kagiso Rabada. They also bought Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, making him the first Nepal player to get picked in IPL.

On the Indian front, they bought Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Vijay Shankar, and Gurkeerat Singh. They also bought U19 stars Prithvi Shaw, and Manjot Kalra amongst others.

Delhi Daredevils already look a formidable side that can go a long way in the 2018 season of Indian Premier League.

Let’s take a look at the strengths of Delhi Daredevils

 

STRENGTHS:

The hottest T20 player Colin Munro will play for DD this season in IPL | Reuters

The major strength of the Delhi Daredevils team lies in their team combination. They have players of every style. From hitters like Glenn Maxwell, Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant, Jason Roy to stylish players like Shreyas Iyer, Gautam Gambhir, Gurkeerat Singh and others; DD has players that cover all around aspects of the game.

In bowling, they have Indian bowlers like Mohd Shami, Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel, and Avesh Khan. They will be accompanied by foreign bowlers like Chris Morris, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Dan Christian.

A major strength for them will be the return of their inspirational leader Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir turned around the fortunes of KKR, winning two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. DD will hope that Gambhir does the same with DD as well.

In Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Vijay Shankar, Colin Munro, Amit Mishra and Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Daredevils have an army of proven T20 performers in their ranks. Their bench strength is brilliant with the likes of Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Harshal Patel and Gurkeerat Singh Mann ready to take place of any first choice player.

Click next to view the weaknesses that DD have in their current squad

 

WEAKNESSES:

Sandeep Lamichhane will have a big test in front of him in IPL 2018

Delhi Daredevils will have to do with finger spinners partnering Amit Mishra. Shahbaz Nadeem and Jayant Yadav will have their work cut out in today’s T20 cricket, where wrist spinners are ruling the roost. They do have 17-year-old Nepal leggie Sandeep Lamichhane, but he is untested in such playing environment.

The injury to Kagiso Rabada has put a spanner in DD's plans as they were hoping Rabada to be their main strike bowler, with Pat Cummins gone to MI. DD are yet to name a replacement for Rabada.

Hot discussions on the opening pair will be consistent for DD during the IPL 2018 season. They have three options- Jason Roy, Gautam Gambhir, and Colin Munro- to choose from and all three have their shortcomings. Roy isn’t a first choice opener for Delhi team and wasn’t given many chances by Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017, a gripe that he made public. Gautam Gambhir is well past his prime and his usual slow starts require a quick scoring partner at the other end to compensate.

Colin Munro may be the hottest T20 opener currently, but he is highly inconsistent and though he has three T20I centuries to his name, the low scores are present in between.

 

BEST BUY OF THE AUCTION

DD acquired the in form bowler Trent Boult to replace Cummins | Getty

Best buy of the auction for Delhi Daredevils was New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult. Boult was amazing for New Zealand in both Tests and ODIs recently and he is brilliantly both at the start and at the death. DD bought Boult for Rs 2.2 crore and should make him a permanent member of the playing XI.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE

DD will hope that Gautam Gambhir will change their fortunes, as he did with KKR

The Delhi Daredevils have been one of the worst performing franchises in the last eight years. However, this time they planned their IPL auction very well and with the return of Gautam Gambhir as the captain, DD can look forward to a positive ending to their IPL 2018 journey and even dream of winning the IPL 2018 title.

DELHI DAREDEVILS SQUAD 2018:
Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Gautam Gambhir (C), Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Prithvi Shaw, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sayan Ghosh.

 

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 06 Apr, 2018

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