The only original franchise to have never reached an IPL final, this could be the year for the Delhi Daredevils. DD has made some excellent picks in the auction and will definitely be one of the most exciting teams to watch out for. Perhaps the biggest change that Delhi made is to rope in Ricky Ponting as coach. The former Aussie legend is one of the canniest minds in the game and is quickly becoming one of the most sought after T20 coaches around the world.
Strengths
Power hitting has to be the biggest strength that the Delhi Daredevils are bringing with them this season. A possible batting lineup that boasts of players like Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy, and Rishabh Pant is going to give the opposition nightmares.
Gautam Gambhir will have a tough time picking between Roy and Munro but we think the success that Munro had on his last tour with the New Zealand team should tip the scales in his favor.
DD retained Shreya Iyer, another excellent young Indian batsman, and added Gautam Gambhir to the squad as well. Gambhir is one of the prolific scorers in the IPL and has led KKR to victories in the past. DD will be hoping for some of that magic to rub off on their franchise.
Another definite strength for DD is their fast bowling. Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, and Mohammad Shami look likely to be the starting three for the franchise. Trent Boult, who is in waiting, is also not a bad person to have around! We don’t think there is a better fast bowling lineup in this entire tournament.
Quality spinners like Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Jayant Yadav round out the team very nicely. With all bases seemingly covered and some excellent backup players in the squad, this Delhi Daredevils squad is looking absolutely stacked.
Weaknesses
The only weakness that seems apparent at this point in time is a proven Indian batsman in the middle order. As things stand, one of either Vijay Shankar or Gurkeerat Singh will probably play in the starting eleven. Neither of them looks likely to set the IPL on fire with their batting.
Mohammad Shami has also been involved in a bitter public controversy with his wife and suffered some minor injuries in a car accident as well. If he is not in the right frame of mind to be able to give his best then that will upset the balance for the Delhi Daredevils.
Also, with so many batsmen who go hard, DD could face some spectacular collapses if things do not go to plan. Like we said in the beginning, this is going to be one team that will be very exciting to watch!
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