It was a rollercoaster campaign for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020. They started brilliantly, looked like the best team of the tournament along with Mumbai Indians in the first half of the tournament. But things started unravelling later on in the campaign as the top-order struggled for consistency and their pacers went for runs. In the end, they recovered in time to reach their first-ever final in the tournament’s history. For a franchise that has boasted of some of the biggest names to have played in the league in the past, it was almost unforgivable that they had to wait 13 seasons to have a shot at the title.
In the final assessment, it was, without doubt, a successful campaign for Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer’s men. There is no shame in coming second best to Mumbai, arguably the best T20 franchise going around at the moment.
Results in last three seasons
| Season | League stage finish | Playoff result |
|---|---|---|
| IPL 2018 | 8th | |
| IPL 2019 | 3rd | Won in Eliminator, lost in Qualifier 2 |
| IPL 2020 | 2nd | Lost in the final |
Perhaps the only surprise when Delhi announced their squad retentions for the 14th season was to see them release Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who Ponting is a big admirer of. But it is also one that makes sense because when they had to play him to replace an injured Rishabh Pant, it affected the side’s balance with Shimron Hetmyer having to sit matches out due to the overseas quota.
Tushar Deshpande started off well in the chances he got but the rookie pacer was found wanting later on, while Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams are two allrounder options that the franchise have found redundant evidently given their resources in that department. The duo were traded to RCB.
Players released after IPL 2020: Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohit Sharma, Jason Roy
Player traded out: Harshal Patel, Daniel Sams
DC squad for IPL 2021 ahead of auction
| Batsmen | Bowlers | Wicketkeepers | Allrounders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | Amit Mishra | Rishabh Pant | Axar Patel |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Avesh Khan | R Ashwin | |
| Prithvi Shaw | Ishant Sharma | Marcus Stoinis | |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Kagiso Rabada | Lalit Yadav | |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Pravin Dubey | Chris Woakes | |
| Anrich Nortje |
In terms of the purse, Delhi do not have too much room to work with. A marquee purchase might not be possible if they want to fill up the remaining slots and they will have to look for mostly bargain options.
Salary cap remaining: Rs 13.40 crores
Overall slots remaining: 8
Overseas slots remaining: 3
Areas to target
- Backup for Rishabh Pant (Indian wicketkeeper)
- Overseas allrounder (to keep Marcus Stoinis on his toes)
- Batting reinforcements (Indian and overseas)
IPL 2021: Purse & squad details before auction
| Franchise | Purse remaining (Rs crores) | Available Slots | Overseas Slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSK | 19.9 | 6 | 1 |
| DC | 13.4 | 8 | 3 |
| KXIP | 53.2 | 9 | 5 |
| KKR | 10.75 | 8 | 2 |
| MI | 15.35 | 7 | 4 |
| RR | 37.85 | 9 | 3 |
| RCB | 35.4 | 11 | 3 |
| SRH | 10.75 | 3 | 1 |
The auction will be telecast on Star Sports Network on 18 February from 3 pm IST.
