Delhi Daredevils – #IPL7PervView

Forget this years’ squad or those in the last 6, they have little to do with the results.

The problem’s with the DD management and whoever’s been advising them, at the auctions and on the ground.

In IPL-7, they have arrived once again at their worst overseas’ buy ever – Ross Taylor. DD spent an entire season playing him into form, what they got in return was less than nothing.

Then they buy Murali Vijay, a player that CSK/BCCI/India Cements/MSD in spite of their unwavering commitment to, did not retain. Seems obvious why, Vijay has a strike rate of 66 (in ODIs) and 98 (in T20Is). In the previous season, he did enough to be benched instead of Saha but continued to play.

Buying Vijay, like Taylor, is a gamble of Caesars Palace proportions, even poor Valthaty would’ve fancied his chances.

And just when you think they can’t funk anymore, they pick Saurabh Tiwary. And Dinesh Karthik for an arm and a leg and a breast. 

Like Taylor, BossDK was part of DD, once upon a time. As was Parnell, he just never played for them. 

And didn’t Manoj Tiwary start with the Daredevils too? Why didn’t they go after Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir? Retention sucks.

When all of T20 is going orthodox legspin, they go Rahul Sharma and Nadeem, and expect Duminy to be the offie. There’s Jayant Yadav, who goes at 4.5 rpo but when did this bunch take a leap of faith with a rookie – oh right, they did once, and that was also Murali Vijay’s Big IPL audition with a hundred.

Two games, Duminy is yet to be dismissed – 52*(35) vs KKR, 67*(48) vs RCB, bowled 5 overs for 35. 

Before this for SA, Duminy scored 39, 86*, 12, 5, 45* in the World T20, bowling in every match. Duminy bats for both South Africa and Delhi at five.

Duminy,  de Kock, Ross Taylor, Parnell, Neesham, Nathan Couter Nile and Mohammad Shami are all part of their country’s T20I squads.

Add to that, Vijay, Karthik, Unadkat, both the Tiwarys, Rahul Sharma, Shukla, all who have played for India in some format, and you have a team that would’ve done well in a spinless IPL.

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor, with a name like that, would’ve been better suited in the SLPL. Two pointless knocks, the odd drop, he seems as distanced from the cricket (and entertainment) as Lalit Modi.

And by now DD should know better, no Kiwi ever did them any good, not Ross Taylor nor Daniel Vettori.

But with a win after 7 defeats, stranger things could happen. Like a Kiwi winning it. When’s the DD vs RCB game in Bangalore?

13^th May.

Squad

1 de Kock

2 Mayank Agarwal

3 Dinesh Karthik

4 Duminy

5 Ross Taylor/Neesham/Parnell

6 Manoj Tiwary

7  Kedar Jadhav

8. Nathan Couter Nile

9 Rahul Sharma / Nadeem

10 Unadkat

11 Shami

Bad Year: Ross Taylor played on but Andre Russell  stayed on the bench