Delhi Daredevils started in an emphatic manner in the inaugural IPL.  They played some brilliant cricket but missed to book a final berth. The same thing happened to them in 2009; they were the leading the points table but lost to Deccan Chargers in the semifinals. Things fell apart for them after that. Delhi finished fifth in 2010 and was at the rock bottom in the last year edition. The Daredevils have always been a great side on paper but has failed to deliver any goods from the last two seasons.

The team from Delhi could only managed four wins in the last season and everything went against them that season.

This season could be different; the batting line-up of the Delhi team looks one of the best in the tournament. They have roped in some of the most exciting talent in this year’s auction and have some of the most brutal batsmen of the world. The team which is lead by the most explosive Indian batsmen ever will fancy their chances as they have all the ingredients to come out the winners.

Batting

International Players: Delhi Daredevils are blessed with some of the best T20 batsmen in their side. Let’s start with their opener David Warner. Warner has been in breath-taking form of late. He has dismantled a lot of bowling attack in the past few months including some Indian bowlers. Warner does not believe in getting his eyes set and looks to take the attack to the bowlers right from the word go. Daredevils have also roped in the captain of Sri Lanka Mahela Jayawardena. Jayawardena plays with superb finesse and is a class batsman. He has all the shots in the book and can dominate any bowling attack. Then comes Ross Taylor, the Kiwi skipper is most apt for this format and his slog-sweeps can torment any bowler. He when gets going can play some breath-taking innings and has always performed well in IPL.
Kevin Pietersen will also dawn Delhi’s colors this season. He may not have a good history with the tournament but as some wise men says – form is temporary, class is permanent and it is known to everyone that KP is pure class. He has shown for the English team that he can raise his level whenever the chips are down and would look to do that for the Daredevils.

Domestic Players: Virender Sehwag will open the innings for the Daredevils alongside David Warner. If his Aussie partner is devastating than this Nawab from Najafgarh is even better. He plays with extreme freedom and can hit the good deliveries out of the park, day-in-day-out. Sehwag has not had a good year or so and would look to shut his critics from his IPL performance. Sehwag was the only shining point for the Delhi team last year as well. Venugopal Rao’s may not take one’s breath away, but he sure is one utility player. He has a small built but has some big shots in his armory. Rao has the ability to play some scintillating knocks and will come in handy for the Delhi side. Wicket keeper batsman Naman Ojha has always performed well in this tournament and would like to continue that.  

Bowling

International Players: Big South African Morne Morkel will lead the attack up-front for the Daredevils. The lanky fast bowler can get some leap bounce from any pitch and his natural length is hard to hit. He bowls at around the speed of 145 and can produce some deadly deliveries. Roelof van der Merwe with his slow left-arm spin can be very effective on the Kotla pitch. He has a quick-arm action and can deceive the batsmen with his scuttle change of pace. He also has the ability to ball Yorkers and is handy with the bat as well. Andre Russell from the Caribbean is taking long strides and is already considered as one of the emerging all-rounder. He balls at good pace and has a superb slower ball. With the bat, he sure has the capability to deliver some lusty blows. 

Domestic Players: Delhi Daredevils have two very experienced Indian fast bowlers and both of them have a point to prove. Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar have seen it all. Both these bowlers have it in them to raise the standard of their game at crucial juncture. Agarkar has been a terrific out-swinger for India over the years and would like to show why he has close to 300 ODI’s wickets. Pathan on the other hand is trying cement his position in the national side and will be raring to go, given how much role IPL has played in the selection process in the past. Apart from these two experience fast bowler, daredevils also have young sensation, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. Both Yadav and Aaron have shown that they have what it takes to be a good fast bowler and will try to make their presence felt in this season. 

Players to watch out from Delhi Daredevils: Virendra Sehwag, David Warner, Umesh Yadav

Delhi Daredevils Complete Squad

Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardena, Ross Taylor, David Warner, Irfan Pathan, Roelof van der Merwe, Kevin Pietersen, Morne Morkel, Venugopal Rao, Naman Ojha, Ajit Agarkar, Aaron Finch, Andre Russell, Yogesh Nagar, Doug Bracewell, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Punit Bisht, Aavishkar Salvi, Varun Aaron, Robin Bisht, Sunny Gupta, Unmukt Chand, Prashant Naik, Vikas Mishra, Zafir Patel, Kuldeep Raval, Manpreet Juneja, Tejaswi Yadav, Pawan Negi, Glenn Maxwell, Gulam Bodi

BY Gaurav Jha

Indian Sports News