Can the budget buys bring glory to the Capitals camp?
Source: Twitter
Among the oldest franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals is one such unit which has failed to lift the trophy even once. They are the third unit, alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings, devoid of this honour.
The Capitals made it to the playoffs six times, including a final, but unfortunately, couldn't get their hands on the silverware even once. But, despite impressive performances in the recent editions, the Delhi-based franchise had loopholes to be covered.
So, did the DC management discover them and have answers to the problems? We shall get to know after a thorough post-mortem of the IPL mini-auction 2023.
Pre-auction Squad
Rishabh Pant (c/wk), Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Chetan Sakariya, David Warner, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lalit Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitch Marsh, Mustafizur Rahman, Praveen Dubey, Ripal Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Khaleel Ahmed, Aman Khan (traded from KKR)
Purse remaining: INR 19.45 Cr
Slots left: 5
Overseas slots left: 2
Post-Auction Squad
Rishabh Pant (c), Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Chetan Sakariya, David Warner, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lalit Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitch Marsh, Mustafizur Rahman, Praveen Dubey, Ripal Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Khaleel Ahmed, Rovman Powell, Aman Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Manish Pandey, Ishant Sharma
Source: Twitter
What DC required before the IPL Auction?
- A backup for Mitchell Marsh
- A backup wicketkeeper (overseas)
- Indian pace bowlers
- Pace-bowling all-rounder
List of Players DC bought in the IPL Auction
- Mukesh Kumar- INR 5.5 Cr
- Rilee Rossouw- INR 4.6 Cr
- Manish Pandey- 2.4 Cr
- Phil Salt- 2 Cr
- Ishant Sharma- 50 L
Key Takeaways
1.Who is Mukesh Kumar? Why 5.5 Cr for him?
Souce: Twitter
Born in the district of Gopalganj, Bihar, Mukesh Kumar is someone who can move the ball in the air as well as off the deck.
Mukesh was once told that he wouldn't be able to become a fast bowler due to deficits in bone. However, he proved everyone wrong and bounced back, battling through injuries.
Since the last two years, Mukesh has had an impressive run in the domestic circuit, forming a lethal bowling trio alongside Ishan Porel and Akash Deep. He recently bagged nine wickets for India A in the two-match unofficial First Class matches against Bangladesh A.
The Capitals needed someone who could bowl upfront alongside Nortje, and Mukesh could be their go-to man. Henceforth, INR 5.5 Cr for him justifies to some extent.
2. The Steals
Rilee Rossouw for INR 4.6 Cr and Manish Pandey, an Indian batter near about his base price can be regarded as steals for the Capitals.
Rossouw garnered 372 runs from 10 innings with an average of 46.50 in T20Is for South Africa in 2022. He was striking the ball at 1.76 runs per ball. Barring this, he has also been surreal in the other T20 franchise tournaments.
Thus, bucketing the southpaw at INR 4.6 Cr was indeed a smart move by the Capitals.
Another purloin for the Ricky Ponting-coached side has been Manish Pandey. He might not be the batter he was some 3-4 years back, but the 33-year-old did play some impactful knocks for Karanataka in the domestic tournaments. A lot of franchises tend to figure out for firm Indian batters and pocketing the right hander for INR 2.4 Cr was a win for the Capitals.
3. Backup Overseas wicketkeeper
From Alex Carey to Tim Seifert and Sam Billings, there have been quite a few wicketkeepers seen in the last few editions of IPL for the Delhi Capitals. Now, English top order batter Phil Salt has joined the list.
Salt was bagged for his base price of INR 2 Cr during the accelerated auction and that indeed was a great buy.
He might not be a part of the first XI but is a formidable backup for Rishabh Pant. Moreover, he can also be a secondary option to David Warner and Prithvi Shaw at the top if needed.
4. No pace bowling allrounder.
Delhi Capitals scalped Rovman Powell and Mitchell Marsh in the previous editions for the role of a pace bowling allrounder. However, both these players have become more resounding batters. And this is the void the Capitals failed to eclipse in the recently concluded IPL Mini-auction.
Auction Rating: 8/10
DC Probable Playing XI
- Prithvi Shaw
- David Warner✈️
- Mitch Marsh✈️
- Rishabh Pant (c/wk)
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Rovman Powell✈️
- Lalit Yadav
- Axar Patel
- Anrich Nortje✈️
- Khaleel Ahmed
- Mukesh Kumar
Also Read: Do the 'Super Giants' have the firepower to clinch their maiden title?
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