OPINION
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Possible Starting XI
What works for DC?
• Prithvi Shaw and David Warner tick all boxes of a perfect T20 opening pair. For starters, they establish a right and left hand opening duo with a great mix of youth and experience.
While Shaw will take the aggressor’s role, Warner isn’t a slow-starter himself. None of them gets bogged down by spin. Except Shaw’s little vulnerabilities against in-coming deliveries, there is no real threat to this partnership. Both believe in keeping their foot on the accelerator even beyond the powerplay. Hence, it will be vital for the opposition to break the partnership during the field restrictions itself.
• With Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant to follow, Delhi pack a punch with their top four. Hitting a purple patch in his career, Marsh averages 49.8 batting at number 3 while striking at 136.6 since June 2021.
Pant is one of the few bonafide T20 middle-order batters at present. His game against spin has escalated over the past few months irrespective of the format. The left-hander hasn’t justified his potential in the last few seasons but his form heading into the tournament suggests this might well be Rishabh Pant’s year.
• The playing XI above suggests Delhi can maintain a left-hand right-hand batting combination for most part of their innings. Efficient use of Axar, the batsman can take it a step further. In an exclusive interview with Cricket.com, Delhi Capitals’ chief analyst, Sriram Somayajula spoke about using Axar better as a batsman.
• Delhi can accommodate three all-rounders in their XI: Marsh as the batting all-rounder, Axar and Shardul as bowling all-rounders. This helps them bat deeper than they did in the previous seasons with Marsh as the sixth bowling option.
• In Pant, Delhi possess India’s first-choice wicketkeeping batter across all formats. Only Chennai have enjoyed that liberty before. Delhi acquired Srikar Bharat, arguably the best backup Indian wicketkeeper in the auction who can bat also bat at three. They have a third option in Tim Seifert. Hence, the glovesman duties should not bother Delhi this season.
Where DC might struggle?
• While there is a lot to boast about Delhi’s batting, their bowling was severely affected by the auction dynamics. It rests heavily on the only specialist bowler they retained in Anrich Nortje. He is the leader of their pace attack and the only one who can clock the 150kph mark consistently. The fact that he isn’t fully fit at present puts Delhi in a precarious situation.
• Given Nortje will be required across all phases leaves Delhi looking for another weapon to strike with the new ball. Khaleel Ahmed is their only option and he has only five powerplay wickets in the last two seasons.
• Sakariya, being an emerging Indian prospect, will be Delhi’s key death bowler with his variations. But things can go wrong there for Delhi since he is only in his sophomore year of IPL. In the previous season, he conceded at 9.9 runs per over at the death.
• No one knows what to expect from Kuldeep but Delhi have instilled faith in him as their premier wrist-spin recruit. Pravin Dubey has three IPL caps to his name but is yet to pick a wicket. The finger-spin aspect will rest on Axar’s shoulders. Lalit Yadav can provide the off-spin variation to tackle the left-handers but only one between him and Kuldeep may fit in the XI.
• Delhi have three options for the finisher’s role at number 5 and 6: Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan and Lalit Yadav. While all of them are in form, neither has done anything noteworthy in IPL. Sarfaraz has one fifty while Lalit is yet to face pacers of international quality. Meanwhile, Powell will be playing his first IPL season as a certain starter.
• Marsh could be directly proportional to Delhi’s fortunes this season. Apart from his batting, he is also one of the better sixth bowling options in the tournament. It provides Delhi the cushion to absorb the concerns around their young bowling line-up and manage their pacers better. His form will be as crucial as his fitness. Both have gelled together over the past few months but can he replicate the same in IPL now?
• Five of Delhi’s seven overseas players have limited availability at various points. The most notable question mark lies around Nortje’s persistent hip injury. Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman will be occupied by Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa. Marsh and Warner are expected to miss the first week of the tournament due to the ongoing tour of Pakistan.
