Delhi Capital is a squad in the season 14 which is gripped with both known and unknown odds and has to perform from the first ball to square up their image in the IPL T20 tournament. Cricket is obviously not a game of kite flying so WinDaddy will give you perceptual optics right from the indoor walls of their dressing room. Smith, Chris Woakes, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin all sound good on paper but must do more than make up the numbers.
Iyer has been described as a canny operator as captain by coach Ricky Ponting and his absence for the duration of the tournament due to a shoulder issue leaves a chasm in the XI. Furthermore, having failed to pick up a back-up for allrounder Stoinis in the auction, there will be plenty of pressure on the Australian, who is likely to be deployed as an opener after his success during the twilight of the last campaign.
Now let’s zoom our attention upon the sunny side up perspective of the Delhi Capital.
Captain: Rishabh Pant
Coach: Ricky Ponting
Kagiso Rabada: It was a curious 2020 competition for the South Africa seamer, who took a tournament-best 30 wickets but cannot be described as having had a perfect tournament. Indeed, his desire to add to his tally in the final against Mumbai Indians was perhaps his undoing (3-0-32-1) as Capitals missed their big chance.
Nevertheless, there is little to argue about his return, intensity and impact alongside international colleague Anrich Nortje (52 wickets at 20.38), who together caused batters across the competition plenty of problems. Fewer scalps and more control might be the order of the day in 2021.
Rishabh Pant: You wonder quite what might have transpired had India’s wicketkeeper-batter not struck a fifty in last year’s final in Dubai. It was a horrid campaign for the talented left-hander, whose strike-rate of just 113.95 is seldom accommodated for long at this level. The difference this year could simply be due to what has followed.
Pant showed heart and talent in abundance during the winter, first in inspiring a series win in Australia and then across the formats against England with some barely-believable batting. Anticipation has firmly been replaced by expectation and will only be heightened by being awarded the captaincy in the absence of Shreyas Iyer.
Steve Smith: Another underwhelming season for the former Australia captain (311 runs at 25.91) saw him shunned by Rajasthan Royals but picked up in the auction by Capitals, who after messing around with their top order last term have another big name to accommodate.
While there is little doubting Smith’s big-game temperament, the T20 format has not always been his friend. You wonder how his arrival will affect the dynamic of the order.
Given that Capitals were able to reach the final without so much as a tangible run of form from Pant tells you everything you need to know about the talent surrounding the 23-year-old. He arrives at the 2021 IPL as one of the best all-format players in the world right now.
WinDaddy has more to offer about the Delhi Capital Squad and you got to put your buck on the squad potential to perform even in the inclement weather conditions and on a hostile turf with a feeling of deja’vu.