5 players Delhi Daredevils might retain for next IPL

The 2017 edition ended on a sour note for the Delhi Daredevils as they narrowly missed out on the playoffs berth this season. They were pretty much in the contention for the playoffs until the very late stages of the league fixtures. However, the Zaheer Khan-led camp ended up falling short by 2 wins in their campaign this year. A couple of more wins this season would have helped them make the playoffs after almost half decade. Over the years, the Daredevils camp has been seen as an unfortunate one. They do everything right in the tournament but end up crashing out of the race with a string of poor performances towards the business end of the tournament. This year, they had started off on a good note winning in the first half of the tournament. Later, they lost their plot midway that saw them move to the bottom four of the points table. They could never really escalate higher since then and ended up being in the same league at the conclusion of the 56 league match fixtures. Delhi Daredevils were also under the scanner for having picked up an unbalanced squad this year. They did not have any big name in their batting order which put a lot of pressure on the Indian batsmen. In the bowling department, they had the problem of plenty. Considering all these mismatches, it would be interesting to see what combinations they work on in the next edition of the tournament. If there is a player retention policy next year, the Delhi Daredevils could possibly retain these players at the auctions: Rishabh Pant Rishabh Pant of Delhi Daredevils in action. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Hard-hitting young batsman Rishabh Pant has been a revelation this season. Pant walked into the tournament riding on some superlative run in the domestic circuit. The Delhi batsman plundered a triple ton against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy. In the very same tournament, he hit the fastest century of the tournament history against the team Jharkhand. He continued his good run in the DY Patil T20 tournament in Mumbai and then walked into the IPL 2017 for the Delhi Daredevils camp. He showed that he can be a very dangerous batsman on his day. In the league fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders, he hit 26 runs off a single over off the bowling of Umesh Yadav. Later, in the match against the Gujarat Lions, Rishabh Pant hammered 97 off just 43 balls to set up a 208 run chase. Considering his hitting ability, he is certainly one to preserve in the longer run. Mohammad Shami Mohammed Shami of Delhi Daredevils celebrates fall of David Warner’s wicket. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Mohammed Shami is arguably the leading pace bowler in the country at the moment. Needless to say, he was a key asset for the Delhi Daredevils. Over the years, Shami has played 39 matches in the IPL. He has only 23 wickets to his name but his ability to bowl with the new ball in the powerplay remains unmatched. Also, he has the ability to bowl yorkers at will in the death overs. With a dark cloud hovering over the participation of Zaheer Khan in the next edition of the tournament, it is very much likely that Mohammed Shami will be the bowling spearhead of the Delhi Daredevils camp. Shami is a top class act and has a big reputation in the Indian cricket circuit. Considering that the team would want to retain Indian players for the next season, Shami will surely have his case served in contention to be retained. Chris Morris Corey Anderson and Chris Morris of Delhi Daredevils. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Chris Morris is arguably the most valuable player in the Delhi Daredevils camp at the moment. He has not been their best performer with the ball in the recent times but is a proven hitter of the cricket ball too. Morris thundered the season for the Daredevils with an unbeaten 52 to his name this season. He had the highest strike rate in an innings this season – exceeding 440. In the 48 IPL matches that he has played thus far, Morris had batted with an average of 36.58 with a strike rate of 165.66. He has a top score of unbeaten 82 that he clobbered in the 2016 edition of the tournament. With the ball, he has 53 wickets to his name with 2 four-wicket hauls to hsi name. He averages 24 with the ball and has a very impresive strike rate of 18.90 to go with an economy close to 7.5. Sanju Samson Sanju Samson, Delhi Daredevils. (Photo Source: BCCI) Young Kerala batsman Sanju Samson has really come of ages in the last 5 editions of the tournament. He was drafted in the Delhi Daredevils roster a couple of seasons ago. Things did not start on the merry run for him right away. However, now he finds himself in a very comfortable spot in the Delhi line-up. Samson has played 66 IPL games in his career and averages 25.46 for the 1426 runs that he scored. In the most recent edition of the tournament, Samson was a top performer for his team. He amassed 386 runs at an average close to 28 with a strike rate of 141.39. He scored a match-winning century against the Rising Pune Supergiant this season. In the recent times, he has started shouldering more responsibility which will certainly aid the team’s cause. Quinton de Kock (Photo Source: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Young wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock missed out on playing in the Indian Premier League this season. He had a finger injury that saw him miss out on the entire season this year. Despite that, one cannot undermine the fact that he has been a top performer for the Delhi Daredevils this season. He was a juggernaut in the previous edition of the tournament. In the 13 matches that he had played in the 2016 edition, he had returned with 445 runs to his name at an average of 37.08. He had a top score of 108 to go with 3 fifties. Hence, he was a star player for the Delhi roster. In all, he has an experience of 26 matches with 726 runs with an average close to 30 with a strike rate of 132.24. The team management will surely try to have him retained in the camp if the players retention come into the scheme of things.

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5 players Delhi Daredevils might retain for next IPL

These are the possible players who might be retained by DD for the next season.

Sanju Samson

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