With Rabada, Nortje not available full time, Delhi Capitals in a spot of bother ahead of IPL Mini auction

Last year was the best for the Delhi Capitals in their IPL history so far. A lot of credit for that success went to the South African pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. The two among themselves had taken 52 wickets in the last season and Rababa was the Purple Cap winner. 

The problem for Capitals this season is going to be the non-availability of these two players for the first few weeks of the IPL as the Pakistan tour of South Africa is scheduled to take place between 2nd to 16th April. If, as being speculated, the IPL starts in the first week of April, then the Capitals would probably miss the services of these two players for their first 4-5 games. 

Otherwise an almost settled team, the Capitals will therefore go in this auction trying to fill the place of two quicks with at least one genuine quick and one Indian fast bowlers. 

Auction Scenarios for Delhi Capitals

Purse- 12.9 crore

Available Indian Slots- 6

Available Foreigner Slots- 2

Squad 

Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Chris Woakes

Slots to be filled and prospective buys

Bowling all-rounder

Apart from looking for an out and out fast bowler to pair up with Chris Woakes for initial few games, the Shreyas Iyer led team would look to have a few all-rounders by their side, especially to cover up for Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel which they traded with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the trade window this season.  Thus they would target two players in particular to give their team the much-needed boost

Kyle Jamieson - Base Price- 75 lakh

The 26-year-old Kiwi all-rounder is one of the most talented players going around the world. With 54 wickets in just 38 T20 games at an average of 20.59, Jamieson is a six-foot four-inch of proper danger staring into the yes of the batsmen at the other end. His economy is 7.98 is also reasonable enough for someone who picks these many wickets. Along with astonishing bowling figures, Jamieson is no mug with the bat either as the Auckland born has a batting average of 27.14 and a strike rate of 138. 

Jhye Richardson- Base Price- 1.5 Crore

The other player that Delhi might go for is Jhye Richardson of Australia. Highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Big Bash League, Delhi would look to go for him and fill the space left by both Nortje, Rabada and also Daniel Sams. Richardson, 24, has 78 wickets in 62 games and in this very season of the BBL, he took 29 wickets in 17 innings. 

The Delhi team has only two overseas spots left. Thus these are the two players that they would most likely bid heavily for. 

Indian wicket-keeper 

Another spot that the Capitals need to secure is that of an Indian wicket-keeper. With Ricky Ponting being the coach of the Capitals, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Delhi side goes for Alex Carey, whom they released earlier this year. With him piling up runs in the BBL (425 runs) this season, the chances of him getting that one overseas spot is very likely. 

But if the team is looking to go strategically, then they might just let Carey go and pick up an Indian wicket-keeper batsman. 

Sheldon Jackson- Base Price- 20 Lakh

In case the Capitals do go looking for a wicketkeeper, current Pondicherry and former Saurashtra player, Sheldon Jackson could be an option. The 34-year-old scored 242 runs including a century in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is an outstanding wicket-keeper and could be an ideal substitute for Pant in Indian conditions. 

Play it smart at the end

With these three slots filled, Capitals still have five spots left and if they wish to, they can fill them by going for small but effective buys at the end of the auction. Thus, they would like to fill a few spaces with an Indian fast bowler, an Indian fast-bowling all-rounder and an Indian leg spinner to cover for Amit Mishra and an Indian batsman. 

Their targets in such a situation could be the following players

Indian fast bowler

Umesh Yadav- Base Price 1 Core

Umesh Yadav was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore and with Ishant Sharma’s injury scare being a very high probability and Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande and Harshal Patel being either released or transferred by the Capitals, Yadav fits the bill for the Jindal owned side. 

Lukman Meriwala- Base Price- 20 Lakh 

Lukman Meriwala, a Baroda born bowler has done exceedingly well over the years in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, being one of the highest wicket-takers in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The 29-year-old has 72 wickets in 44 games. 

Indian fast-bowling all-rounder

Shivam Dube- Base Price- 50 Lakh

Dube, 27, was released by the RCB as well and priced at 75 lakh, Dube, could be a very smart buy for the  Capitals. Given the fact that he can cover for Axar Patel in case of an injury and can get quick runs in the end overs if the team chooses to play a proper bowler in place of Hetmyer and Dube plays at the West Indian’s place and a fast bowler replaces an Indian batter or spinner. 

Indian batsmen

Although the batting unit of the Capitals looks settled, if Ajniky Rahane doesn’t click or Shikhar Dhawan flops or for covering up any uncertainties, players like Hanuma Vihari and Kedar Jadhav could be considered. Both of the players can bat and bowl. Jadhav has even played for the Delhi franchise previously. 

Hanuma Vihari- Base Price- 1 crore

Kedar Jadhav- Base Price- 2 Crore