Delhi Capitals will be searching for their maiden title in IPL 2025.
Delhi Capitals (DC) are one of the few teams to not have etched their name on the trophy of the Indian Premier League (IPL) history. They would be hoping to finally get their hands on the coveted title when they take the field in IPL 2025.
If you look at their track record, barring the first couple of years and the 2019-21 period, Delhi Capitals have been one of the worst-performing franchises. They have failed to reach the playoffs in the last three seasons.
The mega auction came at the right time for them as they needed to do yet another revamp. DC retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, and Abhishek Porel. They added the likes of KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis, Mitchell Starc, and Harry Brook to their roster. Overall, Delhi Capitals didn’t do a great job of reconstructing the squad, ending up with several loopholes.
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, Donovan Ferreira, Mukesh Kumar, Manvanth Kumar, Ajay Mandal, Karun Nair, Darshan Nalkande, Thangarasu Natarajan, Vipraj Nigam, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay.
Let’s try to dissect Delhi Capitals’ major issues and what they can do to make the best out of their resources in the upcoming season.
Delhi Capitals may have made a big mistake by filling their squad with several players who are better suited to bat at the top. Among those are Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis, and Abhishek Porel.
Fraser-McGurk was their designated opener in the previous season and was brought back for INR 9 crore using a Right-To-Match card. Porel has batted at multiple positions but his best returns came when he opened the innings. He smashed two fifties in three innings while batting at the top and averaged less than 20 in 13 innings at non-opening spots.
Rahul has batted as an opener in the last eight IPL editions while du Plessis also prefers the same position. The former Proteas captain is likely to be benched. If he plays, two of these four players will have to bat out of position.
Looking at the best possible XI, the middle order might turn out to be a huge concern. It is likely to have Porel at three, followed by Karun Nair, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, and Ashutosh Sharma.
Nair wasn’t part of the league in the last couple of years. But he has been in incredible form in domestic cricket and could be rewarded with a spot in the XI. His T20 game, however, remains a question mark.
England’s Harry Brook has pulled out of the tournament to focus on international cricket. DC are yet to finalise a replacement for him. Brook’s withdrawal increases the chances of du Plessis slotting into the XI but he’d have to bat at number three. Stubbs had an excellent IPL season last year but hasn’t been at his usual self in recent months. DC’s hopes will depend on how Stubbs performs in the upcoming edition.
Delhi Capitals spent INR 11.75 crore to acquire the services of Mitchell Starc. They would be sweating over after the Australian fast bowler pulled out of the Champions Trophy 2025. Starc recently revealed that his decision had a lot to do with the ankle pain he experienced during the Sri Lanka series. He also has his eyes set on the World Test Championship, which could mean workload management or missing some part of the IPL season.
Starc turned up for Kolkata Knight Riders in the later stages of the previous season but had an overall economy of 10.61. DC’s other pace options also tend to be expensive. Mukesh Kumar has an IPL economy of 10.43 while T Natarajan conceded at 9.05 last year. Mohit Sharma also had a poor campaign for Gujarat Titans, conceding at 10.89 rpo.
Having a top-quality left-hand batter can lift the batting unit significantly. You can even say it is one of the requirements of a good batting line-up in the shorter format.
Delhi Capitals have two left-hand batters in their line-up – Porel and Axar. Both of them are pretty good against spin. The problem, however, is that Porel is still unproven at this level while Patel is more of a spin-hitter.
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Delhi Capitals could be tempted to have a left-right batting combination at the top of the order. But moving Rahul or Fraser-McGurk down would not be ideal. The pair should open the innings, with Porel slotting in at three. Rahul has a habit of taking a few deliveries to get set. Having Fraser-McGurk at the other end would allow him to do so. The Australian youngster’s form hasn’t been great, crossing the 25-run mark only twice in his last 12 limited-overs innings. If JFMG doesn’t regain his touch, DC can replace him with du Plessis.
Explosive batting 🧨
— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) November 30, 2024
Quality bowling 🚀
Strong back-ups 😈
Are Delhi Capitals looking one of the best sides on paper for IPL 2025? 📝 pic.twitter.com/Bn0rcmJuSm
To solve their middle-order woes, the Capitals should give a consistent run to Sameer Rizvi. Nair may be in the form of his life but he could be a liability in this format. Rizvi, on the other hand, is just 21 years of age but he has shown promise. He averages 32 and strikes at 133 in T20 cricket. Recently, Rizvi hit 105 off 82 against Vidarbha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He is rated as a destructive spin-hitter and would be more suited for the role than Nair.
Delhi Capitals had the worst team economy rate in IPL 2024, conceding at 9.98 rpo. They were even worse in death overs, where they leaked runs at 13.37 runs per over. To address this, they have brought in T Natarajan. But DC can also try holding back at least one over of Kuldeep Yadav for the final four. The left-arm wrist spinner has bowled 10 overs at the death in the last two seasons, picking up five wickets at 9.60 economy.
The Capitals have been guilty of wasting Axar’s batting ability in the past by sending him too low. He has played as a spin-hitter in the Indian side and that’s what he should be doing for DC as well. Having Axar take on spinners in the middle overs would also free up Stubbs and possibly Donovan Ferreira to deal with pace at the back end.
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