IPL 2022: SWOT Analysis of Delhi Capitals (DC)

The Indian Premier League since its inception has primarily seen two teams dominate the tournament. With Mumbai Indians winning the trophy a record five times and the Chennai Super Kings four times, these two franchises usually start every season as favourites. However, there have been certain teams who have been so close yet so far in their pursuit of winning the tournament. One such team, Delhi Capitals, have shown great potential in recent years. 

They have played brilliantly to make it to the playoffs in all of the last three seasons. The 2020 finalists, however, have just not been able to take that last leap towards glory. However, post the conclusion of the 2022 mega auction, the Capitals will be optimistic about their chances of breaking this jinx and winning their maiden IPL title.

DC retained a majority of its Indian core before heading into the auctions. Rishabh Pant (Rs 16 crore), Axar Patel (Rs 9 crore), Prithvi Shaw (Rs 7.5 crore) and Anrich Nortje (Rs 6.5 crore) were their four retentions. They then went on to make some significant buys at the auction table.

The Capitals shelled out a massive Rs 10.75 crore for Indian bowler Shardul Thakur, making him their costliest buy. They also purchased some overseas cricketers such as Mitchell Marsh (Rs 6.50 crore), David Warner (Rs 6.25 crore), Rovman Powell (Rs 2.8 crore) and Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 2 crore). The franchisee further purchased some recognized Indian options in Khaleel Ahmed (Rs 5.2 crore) Chetan Sakariya (Rs 4.2 crore) and Kuldeep Yadav (Rs 2 crore) amongst others.

Here’s the full Delhi Capitals Squad:

Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, Rishabh Pant (c), Axar Patel, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Tim Seifert, Vicky Ostwal

Here’s a SWOT Analysis of the DC squad for IPL2022:

Strengths: Explosive batting lineup

The Delhi Capitals has with them arguably one of the most destructive batting lineups in the upcoming season. The team that has relied on the tactic of having hard-hitting players right through their batting order in the previous few seasons have once again nailed this very strategy.

In Prithvi Shaw and David Warner, the Capitals have as good an opening combo as any in the tournament. The duo opening the innings together will check several boxes. They form a potent left-right batting combination. They are both aggressive in the powerplay and they both are proven batters having done exceptionally well in their time so far at the IPL.

However, DC is one of the few teams that have quality hard-hitting batters coming to the crease one after the other. Their skipper Rishabh Pant is one of the most sought-after crickets globally at the time. Pant is a batter who can take on any bowling attack and win games single-handedly. Mitchell Marsh has probably been the most consistent T20 batter in the world in recent times. He can bat up the order or finish innings equally well. 

Rovman Powell recently showed what he is capable of in his recent outing for the West Indies against India. Thus, a batting set-up of such quality can easily hunt any target down and also post huge scores on the board when batting first.