Decoding Delhi: The Ups and Downs of a side that fell short of their title dream

Delhi Capitals (DC) sealed the playoffs spot in 2019, emerged as runner-up in the Indian Premier League 2020, and followed it up with another appearance in the playoffs of the 2021 edition.

Delhi have been one of the most consistent franchises in the past three seasons owing to their settled combinations and the players having well-defined roles. Shreyas Iyer captained the team in the 2019 and 2020 editions, while Rishabh Pant filled his boots in the subsequent edition. 

Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, DC team management retained four players, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and Anrich Nortje. 

Patel was chosen due to his economical bowling and wicket-taking abilities in the middle overs; Shaw had displayed the ability to give a firing start to the team in the powerplay overs. On the other hand, Nortje was the key wicket-taker for the team in all stages of the game.

Although these retentions seemed right, the team had lost some of its key players like Ravichandran Ashwin and Shikhar Dhawan, with the latter being a key force in their excellent run in the last few editions. 

Come mega auction, the Capitals trusted the talent of Yash Dhull, Mandeep Singh, and Srikar Bharat at the top order and chose Sarfaraz Khan as the floater. 

But the strategy misfired with them being a little lighter in terms of the pace bowling unit, with the likes of Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed, and Chetan Sakariya as their pacers. Kuldeep Yadav got an opportunity with the Capitals, despite his average performance for the last two years in the IPL. 

The key overseas recruitments came in Rovman Powell and Mitchell Marsh, who came into the tournament after their subliminal stints in the t20 World Cup. Apart from them, David Warner and Mustafizur Rahman were picked due to their impressive track record in the T20 format. 

The Capitals had only three wins in seven appearances in the first half of the season. They were not consistent enough with their performances and could not succeed in winning matches on the trot. 

However, high hopes were pinned on the opening combinations of Prithvi Shaw and David Warner, who had been providing stable starts to the team and were vital to the Capitals winning the games. Moreover, Kuldeep earned a player of the match in all of the team's victories. 

The middle-order was yet to click with the likes of Pant and Powell unable to accelerate and do justice to their talent. 

The bowlers were leaking runs at crunch moments, and the captain Pant was caught in a brain freeze moment, or it was a bizarre captaincy when he bowled spinner Kuldeep in the 20th over of the innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). 

Nortje missed out due to his injury concerns, and the likes of Tim Seifert and Marsh tested positive for covid. So, DC were merely left with four overseas options in the first half. 

In the second half, Prithvi missed out on some of the games, forcing the team to bank on players like Bharat, Mandeep, and Sarfaraz to fill the place in the XI. However, only Sarafraz could do well in limited opportunities. 

In the bowling unit, Khaleel Ahmed was doing all right to pick wickets, and Nortje also returned and bolstered the bowling unit. 

The six-hitting prowess of Powell was witnessed in a game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), where he stitched an unbeaten stand of 122 runs with Warner, which propelled the team to believe in their abilities. 

In the absence of Shaw, the Australian duo Warner and Marsh played a few match-winning knocks at the back-end to keep the team's hopes alive to still make it to the playoffs. 

Although Kuldeep consistently picked wickets in the first half, the subsequent half saw him somewhat inconsistent. With seven wins in 13 league matches, they faced Mumbai Indians (MI) at Wankhede Stadium, a must-win encounter for them to seal the playoffs spot. 

Batting first, the Capitals had a horrific start with the early dismissals of Warner and Marsh. Shaw, who had returned after recovering from typhoid, could score only 24. 

After that, Pant and Powell stitched an exemplary partnership of 75 runs to lay a platform for posting a solid score on the board. However, Pant again failed to convert his start and got dismissed for 39. Finally, due to lusty blows by Patel, the team had to settle for a score of 159 on the board.

Khaleel Ahmed was exceptional with the new ball in the bowling unit and put optimum pressure on the MI openers, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. 

However, the average performances from the rest of the bowlers at a small ground like Wankhede helped MI chase down the total with five balls to spare. 

This loss ousted the Capitals from the tournament, and they could not seal the playoffs spot for the first time in four years. The injury and health concerns in the team indeed had the upper hand over the team's performance this season. 

As a captain in his second stint, Pant tried to use all his resources, but his executions seemingly misfired occasionally. 

The top-order did well in the presence of Warner, Marsh, and Shaw. However, the middle-order failed to provide enough contributions, with Pant not being at his natural ball-striking capabilities and Patel, Lalit, and Thakur being less potent. 

In the bowling unit, Kuldeep and Khaleel could only leave an impact on the team's result. With fresh energy and better form, Delhi Capitals will look to make a remarkable comeback in the next season.