Delhi Daredevils

Team analysis: Delhi Daredevils

 

Delhi Daredevils is the Delhi franchise for the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by the GMR Group. The team is captained by Gautam Gambhir.

 

During the franchise auction for the Indian Premier League teams, Naresh Ganaparthi of GMR Group purchased the Delhi Daredevils for $84 million.

 

Virender Sehwag has been accorded the icon player status in the Delhi team and was also the captain of the side during the first two seasons. However, he resigned and passed on the leadership to his opening partner Gautam Gambhir. The team also boasts international players such as AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Paul Collingwood, David Warner and Andrew McDonald. The bowling attack includes international players Glenn McGrath (2008–09), Daniel Vettori, Farveez Maharoof and Dirk Nannes.

 

The team also includes the Indian players like Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra and Vijaykumar Yomahesh.

 

 

Players’ Profile:

 

Virender Sehwag:

 

Sehwag’s play is always soothing to eyes and makes up his lack of footwork with sweet timing. His aggressive style is cut out for One-dayers and Twenty20 cricket, but he is equally devastating in Tests.

 

In modern cricket if there is one player, who can dictate bowlers at will, it has to be Sehwag. What makes him special is his carefree style of play. Whether he is on 96 or 196, he is never on the defensive mode. He will play his natural game and won’t mind stepping out to get to his century or a double ton.

 

Sehwag is the only Indian batsman to have two triple centuries in Test cricket. He also comes handy with his gentle off breaks and is well known for his ability to break partnerships.

 

Major teams: India, Asia XI, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, ICC World XI, India Blue, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President’s XI

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

 

IPL Record: 25 Matches 604 runs, 94 high score, and 3 wkts

 

 

Gautam Gambhir:

 

Gautam Gambhir is one of the most complete batsmen of the current era. He is adept at opening in all three forms of the game. He can be more aggressive than Virender Sehwag.

 

He walks down the track to the fastest of bowlers, and an unfriendly word or three with the fielding side only help him concentrate harder, though it’s not as if he needs external motivation to make the most of his time as a cricketer.

 

A century in his second ODI back and a final-winning fifty in the inaugural World Twenty20 paved the way for his Test return. Test fifties against Murali and Mendis in the summer of Murali and Mendis in 2008 told him he belonged. In his next 13 Tests, he scored eight centuries: centuries to set up wins, centuries to bat opposition out, and centuries to hold on for draws, including the near 11-hour marathon in Napier.

 

The Arjuna Award came his way, the ICC named him the Test player of 2009, but much more tellingly Sehwag called him the best Indian Test opener since Sunil Gavaskar. The only plausible flaw in Sehwag’s claim is Sehwag himself

 

Major teams: India, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, India Red, Indian Board President’s XI, Rajasthan Cricket Association President’s XI

Batting style: Left-hand bat

Bowling style: Legbreak

IPL Record: 29 Matches 820 runs, 86 high score and 6 fifties

 

Dinesh Karthik:

 

It took just one season for Dinesh Karthik to transform from an obscure second-choice wicketkeeper for Tamil Nadu to a serious contender for a berth in the Indian squad. Dinesh Karthik had an incredible run with the bat in this domestic season scoring 634 runs at an average of 63.4 and also played a crucial role in Tamil Nadu’s run to the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy Super League. As a batsman, Karthik suits all forms of the game. He has been a classy opener in the Tests and in the shorter form he has the ability to play unorthodox shots in the middle-order to step up the run rate

 

Major teams: India, Delhi Daredevils, India A, India Blue, India Under-19s, Indian Board President’s XI, Tamil Nadu

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

IPL Record: 28 Matches 433 runs, 56 high score and 18 catches

 

Amit Mishra:

 

Mishra made his ODI debut against England in 2001 but faded away soon before a highly successful stint with Daredevils in the inaugural IPL brought him back to national reckoning.

 

Mishra emerged as the surprise package for Daredevils, who reached the semi-final of the IPL. Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag showed immense faith in Mishra even handling him the ball at critical moments of the game. With a vast experience of first class cricket, Mishra handled the pressure with poise and grit proving his captain right. He also has a hat trick in the IPL.

 

Major teams: India, Delhi Daredevils, Haryana, India Blue

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Legbreak

IPL Record: 17 Matches 63 runs, 2 catches, 25 wkts

 

Ashish Nehra:

 

 

Ashish Nehra came out of his first full tour – to Zimbabwe in 2000-01 – with his reputation as one of the most promising new-ball bowlers on the international circuit vastly enhanced, and his performance at Bulawayo played a key role in India’s winning a Test outside the subcontinent for the first time in 15 years.

 

He struggled to establish himself thereafter, as inconsistency and injuries saw him slip down the pace bowling list. The high point of that difficult period came in the 2003 World Cup against England, where he scalped 6-23 and then threw up by the side of the pitch.

 

After a decent outing with Mumbai Indians in the inaugural IPL, the 29-year-old fast bowler is back in his home team.

 

Major teams: India, Asia XI, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

T20s Record: 32 Matches 26 runs, 11 catches and 32 wickets

 

Mithun Manhas:

 

Mithun Manhas is one of the many middle-order batsmen in Indian domestic cricket who were born in the wrong era: that of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. Throughout his best years, there was never a vacancy at the India level.

 

For Delhi, though, he has been a stabilising presence in the middle since 1998. With the bigger players, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, mostly absent on national duty, Manhas has been the captain of the side for most of the new millennium.

 

Major teams: Delhi, Delhi Daredevils

Playing role: All-rounder

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

IPL Record: 11 Matches 75 runs, 3 catches, and 26 high score

 

Pradeep Sangwan:

 

A left-arm medium-pace bowler like his idol Wasim Akram, Pradeep Sangwan made his first-class debut for Delhi in the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy season and took 33 wickets at an average of 19.24. His performances won him a berth in India’s squad for the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, where he impressed with eight wickets in India’s successful campaign, including a spell of 5 for 44 that routed South Africa during the group stages

 

Major teams: Delhi, Delhi Daredevils

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Left-arm medium

IPL Record: 20 Matches 8 runs, 4 catches and 20 wkts

 

Tillakaratne Dilshan:

 

Tillakaratne Dilshan is one of the most exciting batsmen in the game today. He is technically sound, but, much like Virender Sehwag, he uses the defensive option only as a last resort, after all the attacking alternatives have been explored.

 

Major teams: Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Delhi Daredevils, Kalutara Town Club, Northern Districts, Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club, Singha Sports Club

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

IPL Record: 21 Matches 522 runs, 67 high score and 1 wkts

 

Drik Nannes:

 

Dirk Nannes’ used to play a couple of club games at the start of the season, a handful at the end, and in between travel the world pursuing his other passion, skiing. But when he started to take his cricket seriously, he quickly grabbed the attention of Victoria’s selectors. It led to a first-class debut at 29 in 2005-06, and in his second game he suffered the group humiliation of watching Queensland storm to 6 for 900 declared in the Pura Cup final.

 

Major teams: Australia, Netherlands, Delhi Daredevils, Middlesex, Victoria

Batting style: Right-hand bat

 

Bowling style: Left-arm fastA persistent shoulder injury picked up during a stint in English club cricket limited him to one match the following summer, but in 2007-08 Nannes enjoyed his most productive season. A genuinely quick left-arm bowler who can swing the ball late, Nannes collected 22 Pura Cup wickets at 28.54, although he was again part of a demoralised, unsuccessful Victoria side in the decider. There was more joy in the Twenty20, where he was instrumental in the Bushrangers winning the title. Nannes destroyed Western Australia with 4 for 23 in the final, and his promising FR Cup season – 11 wickets at 20.54 – hinted that he would be a big part of Victoria’s attack moving forward. Anything but a typical fast bowler, Nannes speaks Japanese, studied the saxophone at university and runs a successful ski-travel company. A self-confessed “accidental cricketer”, he is also the son of Dutch migrant parents and his Dutch passport allowed him to play for Netherlands in the 2009 World Twenty20 after he missed out on being named in Australia’s squad.
 

Brydon Coverdale August 2009

IPL Record: 13 Matches and 15 wkts

 

David Warner:

 

The diminutive Australian opening batsman took the world cricket by storm with a breathtaking 89 from 43 balls in his Twenty20 debut against South Africa at the MCG.

 

For Warner, everything came fast in his career at a whirlwind pace just like his batting. After he began the summer in splendid fashion, playing for New South Wales and making a one-day record of 165. He followed up with 97 from 54 balls in the Ford Ranger Cup that led to his call-up in the national team. He became the first man since 1877 to play for Australia before playing first-class cricket. It capped off an eventful couple of months, in which he also earned an IPL contract with Daredevils and a deal to use a two-sided bat.

 

Major teams: Australia, Australia Under-19s, Delhi Daredevils, Durham, New South Wales

Playing role: Opening batsman

Batting style: Left-hand bat

Bowling style: Legbreak

IPL Record: 7 Matches 163 runs, and 3 catches

 

A B de Villiers:

 

Abraham de Villiers has risen to shoulder immense responsibility in South African team. De Villiers is gifted with multi-dimensional skills and has donned many hats in his short three-year career that has made him an inseparable part of the team. He has batted at various positions before making his mark as an opener. His fielding is jaw-dropping as he can pluck catches from nowhere and hit the stumps from any part. Devilliers is certainly one of the best fielders in world cricket at the moment, a terror for the opposition in the circle. A natural wicket-keeper, he also takes on the role in Mark Boucher’s absence. He was regarded as the future of South African cricket from a very young age and Devilliers has been quick to show his potential at the international level

 

Major teams: South Africa, Africa XI, Delhi Daredevils, Northerns, Titans

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

IPL Record: 21 Matches 560 runs, 105 high score and 16 catches

 

Rajat Bhatiya:

 

Rajat Bhatia could have been the allrounder India were looking for when Robin Singh called it a day in 2001. A medium-pace bowler who has for long stuck to one line, and a batsman good enough to tough it out at the crease, Bhatia has turned in many influential performances in domestic cricket.

 

Major teams: Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, Tamil Nadu

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

IPL Record: 17 Matches 42 runs, 5 catches and 16 wkts 

 

Farveez Mahroof:

 

The fast bowler from Sri Lanka has rose up the Sri Lankan ranks to become an utility all-rounder. He made a mark with his swinging deliveries in South Africa tour to Sri Lanka. His immaculate line and length from an upright action reminds of Australian great Glenn McGrath with whom he forged the most successful new ball pair for Daredevils. He took 15 wickets from 10 matches with McGrath scalping 12 from 14 matches. He had a useful series with the bat and ball against Pakistan in 2006. But it was in Champions Trophy in India that Maharoof came of age with an astonishing display that saw him scalp six for 14 to bowl out West Indies for 80. He performed creditably with bat and ball for the Delhi Daredevil

 

Major teams: Sri Lanka, Asia XI, Delhi Daredevils, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Sri Lanka A, Sri Lanka Schools XI, Sri Lanka Under-15s, Sri Lanka Under-19s, Wayamba, Wesley College

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

IPL Record: 13 Matches 146 runs, 39 high score, and 19 wkts

 

Joginder Singh:

 

Major teams: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Delhi Daredevils

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm medium

T20 Record: 5 Matches 31 runs, and 1 wkt

 

Moises Henriques:

 

Moises Henriques was so young when he first came into the New South Wales squad that he could train only in school holidays and often had to catch a taxi to practice. By the age of 18 he had already won praise from Trevor Hohns, the former national chairman of selectors, and a rookie contract with the Blues. After starring as captain of Australia’s Under-19 side – he first made the team as a 16-year-old – with 16 World Cup wickets in Sri Lanka at 10.62 and 150 runs at 37.5, Henriques played his second senior game in the final of the 2005-06 ING Cup. As the Blues were heading towards the tightest of victories over South Australia, Henriques, the No. 9, refused to fluster and was unbeaten on 5 from 21 balls when Stuart MacGill squirted the winning runs

Major teams: Australia, Australia A, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, New South Wales

Playing role: All-rounder

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

IPL Record: 30 Matches 387 runs, 51 high score and 23 wkts

 

If you like this article, please share with your friends:

Related posts:

  1. IPL Team analysis: Delhi daredevils
  2. Kolkata Knight Riders

Speak Your Mind

*

Login with Facebook: