IPL 2024: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Delhi Capitals For The New IPL Season

Delhi Capitals are one of three teams yet to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) title. Among the early pace-setters, they reached the semi-finals of the first two editions under Virender Sehwag's captaincy. In this comprehensive article, we will study the Capitals’ squad, their history, and the squad for the latest edition of the IPL.

Despite boasting a strong squad in the past, including Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers and David Warner in the early years, they failed to go all the way. In 2012, the team topped the group stages but lost both their playoff matches to crash out. Subsequently, over the next few years, the franchise endured a lull; they finished last in 2013, 2014 and 2018.

In 2019, they made the playoffs, and in 2020, they went a step further to make the final, where they lost to Mumbai Indians. The Capitals are co-owned by GMR Infrastructure and JSW. GMR, the original owners, bought the franchise for USD 84 million in 2008. In 2018, they entered a JV with JSW when the franchise was renamed from Delhi Daredevils to Delhi Capitals.

The one call that has been dissected time and again over the years is their decision not to pick Virat Kohli in 2008. Delhi had the first pick in the drafts meant for the India Under-19 players who had just won the World Cup that year in Malaysia. 

Kohli had captained India to the title, and it was expected that Delhi would pick him. At the time, they had a formidable batting unit with Sehwag, Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan, de Villiers, Manoj Tiwary, and Shikhar Dhawan, among others. And so they ended up picking a left-arm swing bowler in Pradeep Sangwan. That decision continues to be magnified even today.

After the first three years, when the mega auction came up in 2011, they let go of Gambhir, who went on to take over the captaincy of Kolkata Knight Riders and led them to two titles in three years (2012 and 2014).

The list of players they have let go over the years is rather long, including illustrious names like De Villiers, Andre Russell, Morne Morkel, Shreyas Iyer, Kagiso Rabada, and Trent Boult.

The biggest talking point is Rishabh Pant’s return. His experience was dearly missed in the middle order last year. Pant is returning from a 14-month rehab for a serious car crash that led to multiple surgeries on his knees, ankle and ligaments. Pant’s return shores up the order that already has Mitchell Marsh and David Warner. Prithvi Shaw, too, is back from an ankle injury. On paper, the top five looks formidable, but the lack of game time could be problematic.

The Capitals won’t have the services of explosive batter Harry Brook, who has pulled out for personal reasons. Brook had played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2023 and was one of their big-ticket signings at INR 4 crore. The franchise has signed hard-hitting Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk as his replacement. 

South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi will also be missing in action as he continues to recover from a lower-back injury that he picked up during the SA20. Ngidi’s withdrawal leaves the Capitals relying heavily on Anrich Nortje, another injury-prone player, as their key overseas fast bowler alongside Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed.

Anticipating Pant’s absence, they went big on Indian overseas wicketkeepers, shelling out INR 7.2 crore on Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra. They also have South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs in the mix.

Delhi Capitals are the only team that won’t be playing any game at their traditional home ground—Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi—during the first two weeks of the competition. The venue recently hosted 11 matches of the Women’s Premier League, including the final.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association expressed its inability to host IPL games immediately as it needed some time to prepare the surfaces. As a result, the Capitals will play their first two home games at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

The Capitals open their campaign on March 23, the second day of the season, against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur. They then travel to Jaipur to play Rajasthan Royals on March 28 before flying to Visakhapatnam to play Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on March 31 and April 3, respectively.

On April 7, they play Mumbai Indians in an away fixture at the Wankhede Stadium. The BCCI is finalizing the schedule for the remainder of the tournament and will announce it shortly.