Four players Delhi Daredevils should sign in the 2019 IPL auction

By Vineet Aiyer
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Updated: November 28, 2018
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Delhi Daredevils started their preparations for the 2019 IPL by trading in Shikhar Dhawan from Sunrisers Hyderabad at the cost of Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma going the other way.

With a solid top-order, they will look to win their maiden IPL title, but their squad is far from being complete. Let us take a look at four players Delhi should buy in the 2019 IPL auction to complete their team and challenge for the title.

Retained players

Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane and Avesh Khan

Released players

Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Gurkeerat Mann, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Shami, Dan Christian, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala, and Naman Ojha.

Traded

Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem for Shikhar Dhawan.

Available Slots

10; Indian 7, Overseas 3

Glenn Maxwell

In the 2018 IPL auction, Delhi Daredevils went all out to get the services of Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for a whopping nine crore INR to outbid Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. But, Maxwell failed to repay the faith Ricky Ponting and his men had in him as he ended up having a miserable 2018 IPL in which he scored 169 games in 12 matches at an average of 14 and was dropped in the later stages of the tournament.

Following his failure in the first season of his second stint with Delhi Daredevils, the Aussie international was released from their squad ahead of the 2019 auction. There are two ways to see this decision. Firstly, Delhi might not have wanted the right-hander who proved to be a failure last season and decided to off-load him. However, there are also chances that Maxwell was released from the squad to ensure that the franchise gets some money for the auction.

Given his price, Delhi has freed up nine crores INR in their auction purse by releasing Maxwell, and there are chances that they can still get him for a lower price. Maxwell still has a lot to offer for Delhi as they have a solid top-order with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer and need some experienced batsman in the middle-order to get the job done if the top-4 fail to do so.

Axar Patel

Amit Mishra has been the lone warhorse in the Delhi Daredevils spin department for a while now as he has struggled to get a suitable spinner to back him. Last season, Rahul Tewatia, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jayant Yadav, etc. did the role, and none of them, barring Sandeep was successful. In all likelihood, both Mishra and Sandeep will start for Delhi in the upcoming IPL season, and if they want to free up an overseas player’s spot in the side, they might end up benching Sandeep for some other foreign internationals.

In that case, Delhi might want a local spinner who can back Amit Mishra and get the job done for the team. With discarded India international Axar Patel being released by Kings XI Punjab, there are more chances of Delhi bidding for the all-rounder as he can be a valuable addition to their unit.

Axar can bowl four tight overs in the middle phase of the game and is also a handy batsman who can provide Delhi with some luxury down the order. He can bring in a lot of balance to the side as an all-rounder and adding to that; he is someone who can be trusted in the field.

Mohit Sharma

Last season, Delhi Daredevils banked heavily on Mohammed Shami to do the job for them, but the Indian pacer failed to stamp his authority on the opposition batsmen during the tournament. He was dropped during the tournament and was eventually released by the franchise ahead of the 2018 auction.

This means Delhi will have just one Indian pacer in the ranks in the form of Avesh Khan and they badly need some reinforcements in that department. With Mohit Sharma being released by KXIP, the Delhi team management might go after the out-of-favour Indian pacer in the IPL auction to spearhead the bowling attack along with Kagiso Rabada.

Mohit is one of the few bowlers in India who can be equally effective both with the new ball and in the death overs. He can swing the new ball and has a few variations up his sleeves to be a potent bowler in the death overs.

Chris Jordan

Last season, Delhi Daredevils had a strong unit after the auction and looked good to win their first IPL title. But, all their title hopes were dashed when they had their pacer Kagiso Rabada ruled out of the whole season because of an injury even before the tournament started and in the next few days, their all-rounder Chris Morris also followed his Protea teammate.

With the exit of these two, Delhi’s season turned out to be disappointing, and there are more chances of the same happening in the 2019 season as well, thanks to the 2019 World Cup because of which a few teams are already protecting their players ahead of the all-important global competition.

If South Africa decide not to let Rabada and Morris, two of the most important players in their side play the IPL, Delhi’s season could be done and dusted. They should be looking to have a good back-up in case the duo doesn’t take part in the tournament. England’s Chris Jordan is one bowler who can fill the shoes as he is someone who is decent in the death overs. He can be Delhi’s go-to bowler in the death overs, and if needed, he can score some runs with the bat coming down the order.