- Delhi Capitals, formerly known as Delhi Daredevils, enter the IPL 2019 auction with a solid purse of Rs 25.50 crore.
- Delhi released as many as 10 players during the trading window, including former captain Gautam Gambhir and Glenn Maxwell.
- Shreyas Iyer will continue to lead the franchise, who go into the auction with a maximum of 10 slots to fill.
Change is the only constant, it is said, and IPL’s Delhi franchise has single-handedly fought to ensure the adage remains relevant over the years. Not satisfied with constant chopping and changing of captains, coaches, and everyone else – at times in the midst of a season – Delhi, this time, have opted for a change in identity.
‘Delhi Capitals’ is what Delhi Daredevils will now be known as, and the team, part-owned by the GMR and JSW groups, will come into the IPL 2019 auction with a heavy-duty capital of Rs 25.50 crore – the second-highest among all sides.
Bare Basics
- Auction Purse: Rs 25.50 crore
- Players in Squad: Total 15, Overseas 5
- Spots to Fill: Total 10, Overseas 3
Trading Window
In: Shikhar Dhawan
Out: Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Gurkeerat Mann, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Shami, Dan Christian, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala, Naman Ojha.
(Matches played by released players in IPL 2018: 62)
Retained: Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan.
As Things Stand
In terms of matches played by released players in the 2018 season, Delhi lead the way. Between them, the likes of briefly-in-charge Gautam Gambhir, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar and others played 62 games in IPL 2018 – that’s more than the corresponding number for even Kings XI Punjab, who only have 10 players remaining on their roster.
But one marquee signing during the trading period has bolstered the Capitals in the batting department.
Even before going into the IPL 2019 auction, Delhi have a potential top-four that reads Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant – as explosive as any top-order could be, without the need to exercise a single overseas option.
That in turn means Delhi could easily accommodate both Trent Boult and Kagiso Rabada, while potentially having room for Chris Morris’ all-round exploits too.
The franchise may have been a laughing stock for years in the IPL, but if Delhi utilise their Rs 25.50 crore capital wisely, they could be the ones laughing last.
Concerns
Fewer than one would expect for a side which finished bottom of the standings for a record fourth time earlier this year. Two of Delhi’s five overseas players are New Zealanders (Boult and Colin Munro), who have no early cut-off date set upon them by their board for the World Cup. A third, Sandeep Lamichhane of Nepal, doesn’t have World Cup commitments to contend with.
But with the cut-off date for South African players making the World Cup squad set to 10 May, the Capitals may find themselves without Rabada and Morris for the business end of the season, which is expected to run from the last week of March to the third week of May.
Other areas that could worry Delhi are a lack of middle and lower-middle order batsmen, domestic all-rounders with top-class experience and a lack of big-match experience among a majority of the ‘core’.
Needed at IPL 2019 Auction
- Options to bat at numbers 5, 6 and 7 (domestic or overseas)
- Domestic all-rounders of greater pedigree (or one solid overseas all-rounder)
- One wicket-keeping back-up (Pant the only recognised ‘keeper in the squad)
- Overseas options (irrespective of role) not affected by World Cup cut-off dates
IPL 2019 Auction Watch-List
- Yuvraj Singh (Base Price: Rs 1 crore)
- Axar Patel (Base Price: Rs 1 crore)
- Shivam Dube (Base Price: Rs 20 lakh)
- James Faulkner (Base Price: Rs 1.5 crore)
- Thisara Perera (Base Price: Rs 50 lakh)
- Johnson Charles (Base Price: Rs 50 lakh)
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