Having never made the final of the IPL, the Delhi Capitals with Ricky Ponting as their head coach and Shreyas Iyer as captain will be looking to go one step further in 2020. The franchise, who also had current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly mentoring them last year, made the playoffs after seven years and will hope the additions to the squad this year can take them through to the summit clash.

Like most teams in the IPL, Delhi have quite a few power hitters and experienced hands in the bowling department, the most notable being Amit Mishra, who has the most hat-tricks in the history of the tournament and has often single-handedly spun his side to victories.

Strengths

Delhi have a settled top order in the form of the in-form Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan who will have a point to prove in the shortest format of the game and will be hungry to score runs. The trade of Ajinkya Rahane from Rajasthan Royals has added a sense of calm to the flamboyance and youth of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. While that is the Indian side of things, the overseas players such as Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey and Shimron Hetmyer show the presence of brute power and the ability to use the long handle well.

Stonins and Carey will come into the tournament with some solid batting practice behind them with the tour of England, while Hetmyer has been in red hot form in the recently concluded CPL.

That Delhi is not really affected by the withdrawing of World Cup winners Jason Roy and Chris Woakes gives you a fair idea of how confident they are about their bigwigs turning it up when required.

If the batting has the power to score 200 with ease, the likes of Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje along with Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra and young Nepal sensation Sandeep Lamichhane ensure Ponting and Iyer have enough experience and wherewithal to handle the tricky surfaces in UAE.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad Analysis, Strengths, Weakness and Season Prediction

Bhaag bhaag bhaag aaya sher aaya sher 🔥😍Coach @RickyPonting oversaw his first training session with the DC squad today 💙#Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/0vc8XTlcTt

— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) September 1, 2020

Weakness

If anything, Delhi’s only point of concern will be their pace attack. With Chris Woakes not available, the pressure on Ishant and the two South Africans Rabada and Nortje will be immense. They do have Mohit Sharma and Avesh Khan as back-ups, but will likely regret allowing letting go of Trent Boult to Mumbai Indians.

However, it’s set up perfectly for Delhi’s senior statesmen to make a mark and carry on the good work from last season. All eyes will also be on Rishabh Pant who will look to build momentum as India look to build up to the home T20 World Cup next year.

IPL 2019 Performance

Delhi finished second in the league stage and lost to Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 2.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Two-Time Toppers, Zero Finals – Numbers That Define Delhi Capitals Over the Years

Most Notable Purchase at Auction

Marcus Stoinis, whom the Australians hope to mould into an MS Dhoni-esque player ahead of the T20 World Cup, at INR 4 Cr could just be the ideal finisher alongside Rishabh Pant to provide that extra bit of power in the final stages.

The trades of Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin before the auction also caught everyone’s eye as they bring a whole lot of experience to the table, which might be extremely crucial in high pressure games.

Chances/Prediction in IPL 2020

With the most decorated white-ball captain in Ricky Ponting helping plan things to perfection along with a stellar squad led by Shreyas Iyer, Delhi have every right to hope they can repeat and better the performances of 2019.

Squad

Shreyas Iyer (c) Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Carey, Lalit Yadav, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis, Mohit Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Tushar Deshpande.