Delhi was considered to be one of the strongest teams in the build-up to the inaugural edition of the IPL. With players such as Gambhir, Sehwag, Karthik, AB De Villiers, Dilshan, Vettori and McGrath in the side, they were a force to reckon with. They blew hot and cold throughout and managed to sneak into the semi-finals in fourth place just ahead of the Mumbai Indians. As expected, they were steamrolled in the semi-finals by the eventual winners Rajasthan Royals by 105 runs.
Year
Indian Premier League
Champions League Twenty20
2008
Semifinalists
Cancelled (Q)
2009
Semifinalists
Group Stage
2010
Group stage
DNQ
2011
Group stage
DNQ
2012
Play-offs
Semifinalists
2013
Group stage
DNQ
2014
Group stage
DNQ
They bolstered their bowling with the signings of Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra prior to the 2nd season, which occurred in South Africa. This proved to be an amazing investment as the two players, along with the improvement in forms of David Warner, Amit Mishra and other international stars ensured that they dominated the tournament. A mid-season injury to icon player ‘Viru’ proved to be a blessing in disguise as they finished the tourney strongly as table-toppers under the potent captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. However, all their hard-work would be undone by a whirlwind Adam Gilchrist innings whose 35-ball 85 would take Deccan Chargers to the finals and eventually, a maiden IPL trophy too!
Delhi Daredevils’ inability to capitalize on big games cost them as they lost out on a semifinal spot to Bangalore and Chennai due to a marginally lower net run rate despite having won the same number of games as them. They also lost some of their best players in the auction that occurred prior to the 4th season of the IPL. Their new set of players, missing the likes of Mishra, Karthik, Gambhir, De Villiers and Dilshan among others, could not gel well and failed to make any impact whatsoever in the tournament finishing the tournament bottom of the table, in complete contrast to their performances in the previous editions.
They more than made up for it in the following season’s campaign. Mahela Jayawardene, Morne Morkel and Kevin Pietersen were a few of the additions of international stars from the IPL 2012 auction. The new additions seemed to provide the perfect balance the team so badly craved in its previous season as they, yet again, finished first on the table after dominating the tournament throughout its entirety. Applying a ‘chokers’ tag is not unfair to the Daredevils. For the third time, out of three times, they failed to make it past the knockout stages and into the finals, despite having the advantage of playing in the Qualifier 2 after losing in the first. Losing to both Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings meant that they had to accept third position despite being the table-toppers initially.
Both 2013 and 2014 ended disappointingly for the Delhi-franchise as they were accorded the bottom ranking positions in the table both times owing to some frankly pathetic performances, winning 3 out of 16 and 2 out of 14 matches respectively. The great thing about having consistent inconsistency is its absolute unpredictability. They have finished bottom of the league thrice so far but they have also finished on top, twice. Despite disappointing in the previous season, they are quite capable of pulling off a blinder in this current one.
Team:
Having let go of expensive players like Dinesh Karthik, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor among a total of 13 players, Delhi Daredevils entered the auction with a whopping 40 Crore to spend. They used the same to bring in internationally acclaimed players of high caliber such as Angelo Mathews, Albie Morkel, Zaheer Khan and Yuvi. They have an exceptionally strong middle-order consisting of top-class all rounders. They also have some of the best Indian youth in their squad, consisting of Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Dominic Muthuswamy and CM Gautam. They will be looking forward to their best player of the previous season, JP Duminy and the costliest player in IPL of all time, Yuvraj Singh to make the difference for the team this season. The injury to Mohammed Shami will be a big loss for them as he is one of their main bowlers and star player.
While their bowling is certainly not one of the strongest attacks in the tournament, DD has players like Amit Mishra, Dominic, Unadkat, Coulter-Nile and Zaheer Khan who are hard to play against on any given pitch. With Gary Kirsten at the helm, this team can surprise many an opponent. The pundits do not expect the Delhi-based franchise to make much impact on the tournament. Due to their inconsistency, it is hard to accept them as genuine challengers for the title. However, if they find the right balance in the team and the perfect combination of four foreign nationality players, they can reach further in the tournament than what is expected of them.
Squad for IPL 8:
JP Duminy, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton De Kock, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami*, Mayank Agarwal, Jayant Yadav, Milind Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwary, Angelo Mathews, Yuvraj Singh, CM Gautam, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat**, Gurinder Sadhu, Shreyas Iyer, Dominic Muthuswamy, Albie Morkel, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, KS Bharat, KK Jiyaz, Zaheer Khan.
*Mohammed Shami will miss the entirety of the tournament due to injury.
**Jaydev Unadkat was released prior to the IPL Auction 8 but was subsequently bought back by DD.
IN: Angelo Mathews (7.5 Cr), Yuvraj Singh (16 Cr), CM Gautam (20 L), Amit Mishra (3.5 Cr), Jaydev Unadkat (1.1 Cr), Gurinder Sadhu (1.7 Cr), Shreyas Iyer (2.6 Cr), Dominic Muthuswamy (75 L), Albie Morkel (30 L), Travis Head (30 L), Marcus Stoinis (25 L), KS Bharat (10 L), KK Jiyaz (10 L), Zaheer Khan (4 Cr).
OUT: Dinesh Karthik (RCB), HS Sharath (Unsold), James Neesham (KKR), Jaydev Unadkat (DD), Kevin Pietersen (SRH), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (SRH), Murali Vijay (KXIP), Rahul Sharma (CSK), Rahul Shukla (Unsold), Ross Taylor (Unsold), Siddharth Kaul (SRH), Wayne Parnell (Unsold).
Best Buy: Angelo Mathews
Impact Players:
JP Duminy – Jean Paul Duminy is one of the mainstays of the South African National side for the past decade. An all-rounder of exceptional quality, he can produce match-winning performances with the ball as well as the bat. Utilized at No. 4 as well as lower down the order, he can steady the ship in the face of a collapse as well as accelerate the score in the final overs. Named captain for this season, he will be looking forward to lead the side to the knockout stages.
Kedar Jadhav – This young Mumbaikar has a knack for some clean hitting at the back end of the innings. The IPL tends to favour those teams, which have a strong Indian contingent consisting of talented youth and experienced veterans. Young Indians like Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer can make the difference for a team like Delhi Daredevils. Kedar is well-known for his consistency in the domestic level and will be most wiling to replicate it in the IPL too!
Albie Morkel – One of the most proficiency-filled and experienced contender to make the most of the impact from Delhi’s side in IPL 2015. We all remember his knock of those commanding 28 in an over of Virat Kohli, when he once played from Chennai Super Kings’s jersey. The powerful hitter is a sure shot match winner.
Angelo Mathews – Delhi Daredevils has an abundance of talented all-rounders. Angelo Mathews is a strong man who can hit the ball hard and far. Occupying the spot of both a middle-order batsman and an important seamer, Delhi will be depending on the 7.5 Crore-man to deliver the goods and win crucial games for the side.
Yuvraj Singh – Commanding prices of 14 & 16 Crores respectively, this Indian southpaw is the costliest buy in the auction two consecutively years in a row. The all-rounder who has won the World Cup for India as well as a fierce battle against cancer, is known for his tenacity. His finishing abilities with the bat are highly regarded in the international as well as domestic level. Aiming to return to the national squad, ‘Yuvi’ will be eager to bury the demons of the previous season and remind everyone of just what he is capable of!
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