DC’s first-ever playing XI in IPL: Where are they now?

Delhi Capitals who used to be Delhi Daredevils earlier were always considered an underperformed franchise till they got re-branded. They are playing Indian Premier League from the very first season in 2008. From a few seasons, DC is doing well and they have built a strong team. They have retained Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, and Anrich Nortje ahead of the mega auction 2022. They have had legends like Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers, David Warner, and Zaheer Khan in their squads. In the first three seasons, DC managed to reach the playoffs but 2020 was the first time they got featured in an IPL final. They are yet to win a title and they will try their best to win it in the coming seasons. They have had invested in young talents. Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) played their first IPL game against Rajasthan Royals on 19th April 2008. They won the game convincingly by nine wickets. Rajasthan Royals took their revenge in the semi-finals when they thrashed DC by a huge margin. There were some names that can be surprising now for a few people. Let’s decode who were there when Delhi Daredevils played their first-ever game. DC’s first-ever playing XI and their current status 1. Gautam Gambhir Gautam Gambhir Delhi Daredevils. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images) The Delhi southpaw was a part of DC’s first IPL XI. He had an amazing season playing for DC in 2008. He was the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament scoring 534 runs in 14 games. In DC’s first game he scored 58 runs off 26 balls hitting seven fours and a six. He played for DC for the first three seasons then he again made a comeback in 2018 which was his last season in IPL. Apart from Delhi, he was a part of KKR from 2011 to 2017. He also captained KKR for seven seasons and made them win two IPL trophies (2012 and 2014). He played international cricket for India from 2003 to 2016. He announced his retirement from all forms of the game in December 2018. He joined Bhartiya Janta Party in 2019. Currently, he is a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) since 2019 and is associated with sports channels as a cricket expert and analyst. 2. Virender Sehwag (c) Virender Sehwag Delhi Daredevils. (Photo by Tom Shaw/Getty Images) The first-ever captain of India in T20Is also was the first captain of Delhi Daredevils. Sehwag was a nightmare for the bowlers during his playing days. He was the icon player for the franchise in the inaugural season. He opened the batting with Gautam Gambhir and scored 12 runs off four balls and got dismissed by Shane Watson which was the only wicket to fall for Delhi in that game. He scored 406 runs in that season in 14 matches. He was a prominent member of the Indian cricket team for a long time. He made his India debut in 1999 and played his last game for India in 2013. He also played for Punjab Kings in the League. He was appointed mentor for Punjab Kings ahead of the 2016 season. He currently works as a commentator and also runs a Youtube channel in which he shares his opinion about the happenings in world cricket. 3. Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan playing the shot. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI) Shikhar Dhawan played for DC in their first IPL season before his India debut and was a part of their first-ever playing XI. He batted at number three for them and scored 52 runs off 41 balls and put an unbeaten match-winning partnership of 112 with Gautam Gambhir. He scored 320 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2008. Later he made his debut for India in October 2010. He later played for Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, and SunRisers Hyderabad and returned to DC in 2019. He is released by the franchise ahead of the 2022 mega IPL auction. He is still an active cricketer and is in the ODI squad of India to play a series in South Africa in January 2022. He will be a part of the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022. 4. Manoj Tiwary Manoj Tiwary celebrates his hundred. (Photo Source: Twitter) Manoj Tiwary was a part of Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2008. He had a poor season scoring just 104 runs in seven matches. He has been a consistent performer for Bengal in domestic tournaments. He has so many runs to his name in domestic cricket and is a legend over there. He made his debut for India in 2008 and has had appearances in a few series after that but never got a permanent place in the team. He played for KKR, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Punjab Kings after that. He played his last IPL game in 2018 and hasn’t got any contract after that. He joined India Trinamool Congress in 2021. He is currently serving as Minister of Affairs of Sports and Youth. Despite being active in politics, he is still an active cricketer and is a part of Bengal’s Ranji Trophy squad for the coming season. 5. Dinesh Karthik (WK) Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Dinesh Karthik has played almost for every IPL team in his career but his first IPL team was Delhi Daredevils. He is one of the most successful wicketkeepers in the league. He didn’t get a chance to bat in DC’s first game but he scored 145 runs from eight matches in that season. He even captained KKR in a few seasons. He will be part of the mega auction 2022 and he can be a nice deal for some of the IPL teams. He was a part of the winning Indian side in the 2007 T20 World Cup. He made his international debut in 2004 for India. He was given different roles throughout his international career but he never was a permanent part of the team. He was selected as an English commentator of ICC World Test Championship 2021 final and since then he is seen doing commentary in different games. He is still an active cricketer and will take part in IPL 2022. 6. Mithun Manhas Mithun Manhas. (Photo Source: Twitter) Mithun Manhas is a veteran in the Indian domestic circuit. He was a strong pillar of Delhi in domestic tournaments from 2000 to 2015. He never got a chance to play international cricket for India. In IPL 2008, Manhas just played one game and that game was the maiden IPL game for Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals). He was a right-handed batter and an occasional wicketkeeper. After DC, he played for Pune Warriors India and Chennai Super Kings. He played 55 IPL games in his career and scored 514 runs. He last played an IPL game in 2014 for CSK. After Delhi, he also played for Jammu and Kashmir in domestic cricket in 2016 and 2017. He was appointed as an assistant coach for Punjab Kings ahead of IPL 2017. From 2017 to 2019, he worked as a batting consultant of the Bangladesh under-19 team. In 2019, he was hired by RCB as an assistant coach. 7. Rajat Bhatia Rajat Bhatia. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Rajat Bhatia was a very valuable cricketer to have in a cricket team. Rajat Bhatia was with Delhi Daredevils in the first season but his season was not so good as he scored just 34 runs off nine matches and picked up only six wickets. In the very first game of DC, he picked up a wicket of Mahesh Rawat (Rajasthan Royals batter). He never played for India. For the first two IPL seasons, he was with Delhi Daredevils. After that, he played for KKR, Rajasthan Royals, and Rising Pune Supergiant in the cash-rich league. He started his domestic career playing for Tamil Nadu in 1999 but later shifted to Delhi in 2005 and finished his career with Uttarakhand in 2018 and 2019. In July 2020, he announced his retirement from all forms of the game. Bhatia has done a course in Bio-mechanics and he is willing to make a career in that. 8. Daniel Vettori Daniel Vettori of the Heat fields during the Big Bash League match between the Brisbane Heat and the Adelaide Strikers. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images) The Kiwi legend, Daniel Vettori was a part of DC’s first-ever playing 11 in 2008. Vettori bowled four overs and picked the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja for 35 runs. He just played two games for Delhi that season due to his call for national duty. He played for DC in the first two seasons and then moved to RCB to play till 2015. He had an amazing career playing for New Zealand from 1997 to 2015. He also played for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League and Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL for a few seasons. He even captained RCB in a few seasons before handing over the captaincy to Virat Kohli. He played a total of 34 IPL games in which he had 28 wickets to his name. He announced his retirement from all forms of the game after the 2015 IPL. His coaching career commenced after that, he coached RCB in IPL, Dublin Chiefs in Euro T20 Slam, and was a spin bowling coach for Bangladesh. Currently, he is the head coach of the CPL franchise Barbados Royals. 9. Farveez Maharoof Farveez Maharoof. (Photo by Clive Gee/PA Images via Getty Images) Farveez Maharoof was the player of the match in DC’s first-ever IPL game. He picked two wickets for just 11 runs in that game. The Sri Lankan all-rounder picked 13 wickets in that season and scored 112 runs in nine matches. Farveez Maharoof made his international cricket debut for Sri Lanka in 2004 but was never able to be a regular member of the side because of his inconsistent performances. Farveez Maharoof played the first two seasons for DC and then never got picked to play for any team in the league. He played his last IPL game in 2010. He played his last game for Sri Lanka in 2016. He played 22 Tests, 109 ODIs, and eight T20Is for Sri Lanka. Currently, he works as a commentator and cricket analyst covering Sri Lankan cricket. 10. Brett Geeves Brett Geeves. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images) Delhi Daredevils did a very interesting thing in their first game. Their batting lineup was of all Indian batters and their bowling unit was of all the overseas players. Brett Greaves was one of the overseas players who took the field for Delhi in their first IPL game. He was DC’s most expensive bowler in that game giving 41 runs in four overs. He got a wicket too. The Australian has played just two ODIs and one T20I in his international career. He played just one season of IPL that was the first season for Delhi daredevils. He had some serious injury issues with his knee and his back. His injuries forced him to retire in 2011 at an age of 29. He now works in government programs and provides commentary for local media. 11. Glenn McGrath Glenn McGrath. (Photo Source: Twitter) Probably the best fast bowler to play the game. Glenn McGrath took the field for Delhi Daredevils in their first IPL game in 2008. He bowled four overs in the game and picked a wicket for 21 runs. In the inaugural IPL season, McGrath picked 12 wickets off 14 games for Delhi. He was a part of the invincible Australian side from 1999 to 2007 and was one of the strongest pillars of the team. He played 124 Tests, 250 ODIs, and two T20Is for Australia between 1993 to 2007. He played his last IPL game in 2008. He was honored during the seventh annual Bradman Awards in Sydney on first November 2012. He was included in the ICC Hall of fame in January 2013. Currently, he is the director of MRF pace foundation, Chennai. He is also the president and founder of the McGrath Foundation which supports patients diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

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DC’s first-ever playing XI in IPL: Where are they now?

6. Mithun Manhas

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