Analysing Delhi Capitals’s picks in the VIVO IPL Player Auction 2021 and understanding their value, and the misses by DC
A full to capacity and happy squad are what Delhi Capitals are going back from the Auction Room in Chennai with as they bought almost till capacity, i.e. 24 of the 25 player maximum limit, well before the auction was coming to a close and were the first team to reach full capacity. They although had a small purse, were the ones who knew what they were doing. They made others shell out more money those teams would have wanted and bought some players at very reasonable rates and filled in the small gaps in their side.
But before the player selections by DC is analyzed it is important to note that not only the players selected should thank and be happy with DC’s moves and decisions in the auction, many of whom were bought at their base price, even those who did not get selected by DC but by some other team and a good value, should also thank and appreciate DC’s moves as DC often just pushed p the price of the player before stopping to bid, and emptying the purse of other teams.
Delhi Capitals’s first buy was Steve Smith, for just 2.2 crores and as analysed as to why DC bought him and what is the future for them, it becomes clear that this was an intelligent steal.
Delhi Capitals required that one player, who could play a long innings, and in DC, the pressure to score runs is not focused on one or two players but is more evenly spread. One more thing to take into consideration is the number of available overseas players that a team can fit into their squad and their Playing XI. Smith can be easily made to fit in their batting line – up as and when they want him, and he can even be benched if he does not perform well.
– STEVE SMITH: NOT THE BIG DEAL OF IPL AUCTON 2021
Then came the likes of Umesh Yadav, Sam Billings and Tom Curran. Umesh Yadav fills in that gap and that slot for an Indian fast bowler that DC had. Rabada and Nortje, mainly just had Ishant as an Indian fast bowler to give them company. Umesh Yadav brings in and strikes that right balance between their spin and pace department and the overseas and Indian players. Umesh Yadav was a simple pick. There weren’t many option for a proven and experienced Indian fast bowlers, and with DC already having some Indian domestic circuit bowlers, Umesh Yadav was the way to go, especially when DC got him for his base price of INR 1Cr.
Sam Billings and Tom Curran were the two overseas players and they fill in some important main and backup support roles. Sam Billings believes in “GO BIG OR GO HOME”, and he believes in keeping that white ball away from the pitch and near the audience. This is reflected in his statistics as well. In BBL|10, he scored at a strike rate of above 140 but had an average of just around 28 runs. The best part being that since the time he has come in the foray of franchise cricket, he has been going big and going after that wall without being too reluctant to do so, and without a second thought and he is the right to do so. He plays that role, and although his average is low, if your fielders are not focused on that ball, he is not going to get out. Guard your boundaries when he comes and spin your ball as much as you can to try and prevent this guy.
The Kent Cricket captain in the Vitality Blast (Sam Billings, if you got confused) creates space to hit the ball, has good foot movement and has a very good pickup for the ball. He is able to pick the ball and play it out of the boundaries. He gets the ball’s pitch and hits it out but due to his playing style, he is prone to getting out, especially when it is not in the powerplay, and against spin. This guy opening or coming 1 wicket down can be very beneficial for DC but yes, fitting him in the Playing XI will be somewhat a challenge with two of their main fast bowlers being overseas players – Nortje and Rabada, and Stoinis, Curran, Hetmyer and Steven Smith also falling into the equation which is very hard to solve.
Tom Curran was a decent pick for 5.25 crores. Such players will also help DC provide rest to its other overseas players. Other than this, DC also bought in Vishnu Vinod, who fills in that very important spot of backup Indian wicket – keeper for Rishabh Pant, and strengthened their bowling line up bringing in Manimaran Siddharth(He loves to take wickets and has 16 wickets in 6 T20 games and uses his slow pace to bamboozle the batsman) and Lukman Meriwala( Best figures – 5 wickets for 8 runs against Chhattisgarh on 14 January, 2021) alongside a batsman – Ripal Patel – who can even bowl some overs. These players have potential and their development under the DC coaching staff will only help us know what effect they can have on good players, especially on the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, if IPL games do take place at Delhi Capital’s home ground.
Delhi Capitals played a lot of smart moves in the IPL Auction but missed out on really just one thing. One good all – rounder with potential like that of Marcus Stoinis – definitely not easy to get but a young Indian all – rounder would not have harmed their squad much and might have rather just reaped very good benefits.
|DELHI CAPITALS WILL BE STRONG CONTENDORS FOR A SPOT IN THE FINALS AGAIN|
spielens 