IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals - Team profile and full squad

Delhi Capitals made it to their first ever IPL final last season, before being blown away by Mumbai Indians in the summit clash. DC has been an outfit which has improved tremendously under young captain Shreyas Iyer but unfortunately for them, Iyer will not be available to lead the team this year as he will miss this season with a shoulder injury.

Swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who has been with the team for 5 seasons, has been named captain of the side and he will be looking to enhance his credentials as a match winner further.

The team under the stewardship of Ricky Ponting has a good mix of experienced and young Indian cricketers and also a bunch of high impact overseas cricketers.

Here is the full squad of Delhi Capitals for IPL 2021: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant , Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod, Lukman Meriwala, M Siddarth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings.

ALSO READ | IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians - Team profile and full squad

Strengths

Pacers

DC has the most formidable pace attack this season. K Rabada & A Nortje have been retained. Their weakness of a 3rd seamers from last season has also been covered in the form of U Yadav & L Meriwala.

Add Ishant Sharma to that list (didn’t play last season due to injury) & the pace attack is unrivaled.

Explosive Finishers

With the likes of Pant, Stoinis, Hetmyer & Axar Patel in the middle & lower middle-order, the finishing power of DC is one of the finest and next only to perhaps Mumbai Indians. While Stoinis can play anywhere & Pant’s current form make him among the most dangerous finishers in the game. Axar Patel has a few lofty hits in him while Hetmyer is impossible to stop on his day.

ALSO READ | He looked me in the eye & said 'No, I'm not batting': Ricky Ponting on when Prithvi Shaw refused to bat in DC nets

Weakness

Wicket-keeping Options

Barring Rishabh Pant there is no recognised Indian keeper in the side. While V Vinod is a viable option, but his finishing abilities are nowhere near Pant. Sam Billings is another option that is available but to bring in an overseas player, the entire composition of the team will have to be changed to accommodate him.

Lack of quality all-rounders

Axar Patel and Marcus Stoinis are the only 2 renowned IPL all-rounders DC have in their team. If any one of them were to get injured during the season they might have to depend on the likes of Lalit Yadav or Ripal Patel. Chris Woakes is another option they can turn too but he has been a no-show in the last couple of seasons.

Opportunity

Opening Spot

DC is a squad who have no less than 4 openers in Dhawan, Shaw, Rahane and even Steve Smith. Stoinis as we know has done a great job opening the innings in the shortest form of the game. Looking at previous year’s performances, Dhawan will most probably keep his place but his partner’s place is up for grabs.

Shaw will come into the side with a record-breaking Vijay Hazare trophy and will be eager to get his spot back. Smith has proven he can be as good as any opener in T20s. Stoinis did well last season in the opening spot and there is no reason why he shouldn’t open the innings.

Billings/Hetmyer: The fight for a permanent spot

A lower order big hitter or a stable no.3? Both Billings and Hetmyer fit the bill. While Billings has shown glimpses of what he can do, Hetmyer hasn’t proven himself last season when he was given the chances.

Threats

Injury-prone senior players

Ishant Sharma, Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav are all prone to injury. If both Ishant and Umesh were to be injured the 3rd pacer syndrome will catch up once again to DC. An injury to Amit Mishra and Ravi Ashwin will leave Axar Patel alone like last season. Though they have youngsters like Meriwala, Siddharth and Pravin Dubey to call upon, DC won’t be sure if they are as impactful as their senior colleagues.