Dubai: The Delhi Daredevils, led by the mercurial genius that is Kevin Pietersen, have the potential to emerge as champions of the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
They enter this edition with a new captain in Pietersen and a fresh set of extremely skilled players, as well as a new jersey and logo.
To ensure that their team will be able to dazzle on the pitches of the UAE and India, they have picked a well-balanced squad. A lot of thought has gone into the make-up of the squad to ensure consistent performances. With Gary Kirsten as head coach, the team management has made sure that only those who can deliver are made available.
The batting department will be led by exiled England star Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, Ross Taylor and Jean-Paul Duminy. If that isn’t strong enough, they also have a sensational youngster in South Africa’s Quinton de Kock. Though both De Kock and Karthik are wicketkeepers by trade, they are equally agile as out-fielders.
Also in the line-up are Murali Vijay, Manoj Tiwary and Saurabh Tiwary, who have all shown tremendous batting skills in the IPL. The beauty of both the Tiwarys is that they can easily strengthen the middle order and their ability to pick the gaps for boundaries has been immaculate.
Team ethic
The Delhi Daredevils bowling is impressive, though they do not have any legends of the game. James Neesham and Laxmi Ratan Shukla are two useful pace bowling all-rounders. With Indian pacer Mohammad Shami, Wayne Parnell, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Duminy also as an effective bowler, they can restrict any squad. One should not forget pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who is improving every season. He was instrumental in Saurashtra’s impressive show in the Ranji Trophy in 2012.
Though not an international star, Kedar Jadhav can be an effective batsman in the middle order. He ended the Ranji season as the highest run-getter and became only the second batsman in the history of that tournament to score more than five centuries in a season. Delhi fans still recall Jadhav’s match-winning unbeaten 50 on his IPL debut for the Daredevils in 2010.
Explosive opening batsman
Another batsman to look forward to is Mayank Agarwal, a Bangalore opener who is hailed as an explosive player in domestic cricket. It is no wonder the Daredevils bought him for Rs16 million (Dh974,000).
For Kirsten, regarded by many as the world’s best coach, the IPL offers a return to India — the country he used to coach and against whom he scored an unbeaten 188 in 1996, which is still the highest score in a World Cup. Delhi are expecting him to inspire the same magic he did with India as they won the 2011 World Cup.
And with Eric Simons as bowling coach and fielding specialist Rob Walters backing Kirsten, the Daredevils will be a tough side to beat.
