GameDay Squad IND Fantasy Cricket Squad Preview: The Delhi Capitals! Get the inside scoop on the Delhi Capitals Cricket Squad for the upcoming GameDay Squad competition with an in-depth analysis and preview. Find out who to watch out for!
The Delhi Capitals are the off a below par performance in the 2023 Indian Premier League season, and are looking to bounce back in the 2024 tournament. I think they have a great all-round squad and could cause some shock waves!
Squad (Averages and position rank for IPL 2023 included)
Khaleel Ahmed – Bowler (AVG 35, Rank 24th)
Ricky Bhui – Batsman (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Swastik Chikara – Batsman (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Yash Dhull – Batsman (AVG 8, Rank 44th)
Pravin Dubey – All-rounder (AVG 45, Rank 5th)
Shai Hope – Wicket-Keeper (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Mukesh Kumar – Bowler (AVG 22, Rank 62nd)
Sumit Kumar – All-rounder (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Kumar Kushagra – Batsman (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Mitchell Marsh – All-rounder (AVG 50, Rank 3rd)
Anrich Nortje – Bowler (AVG 35, Rank 25th)
Vicky Ostwal – Bowler (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Rishabh Pant - Wicket-Keeper (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Axar Patel - All-rounder (AVG 51, Rank 2nd)
Abishek Porel - Wicket-Keeper (AVG 8, Rank 17th)
Jhye Richardson - Bowler (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Rasikh Salam Dar - Bowler (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Ishant Sharma - Bowler (AVG 33, Rank 31st)
Prithvi Shaw - Batsman (AVG 16, Rank 36th)
Trsitan Stubbs - Wicket-Keeper (AVG 25, Rank 13th)
David Warner - Batsman (AVG 47, Rank 8th)
Kuldeep Yadav - Bowler (AVG 23, Rank 60th)
Lalit Yadav - All-rounder (AVG 28, Rank 30th)
Jake Fraser-McGurk - Batter (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
IPL 2023 stats from DC home matches played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium
Seven games played; DC won two of them
Team winning the toss won five matches
Chasing team won four matches
Average first innings score of 176 (lowest 127 / highest 223)
Batter GDS average 29 points per match
All-rounder GDS average 33 points per match
Bowler GDS average 32 points per match
Wicketkeeper GDS average 36 points per match
84 wickets taken by bowlers, 49 to seam and 35 to spin
Batters
One man to highlight here... Gun for hire, David Warner will look to lock and load for his first IND Cricket season without any international duties hanging over his head. Warner finished as the 8th overall batsman league-wide last year and Delhi's best with a cemented spot at the top of the order for Delhi, he will look to improve on that ranking once again this season. With 6379 total IPL runs under his belt now, I think its wise you don't bet against David Warner in 2024!
Bowlers
Kuldeep Yadav is coming off a very impressive test series against England where Yadav dominated. He's coming of a fairly disappointing 2023 IPL season by his standards, averaging only 22.6 GDS fantasy points per game, ranking 60th amongst bowlers. One thing is for sure, Yadav is not the 60th best bowler in the IPL and he'll look to prove that point in this upcoming season. Leave him out at your own risk!
Jhye Richardson is a player that will eventually get a game for the Delhi Capitals in 2024 and it might be sooner than we think! Sweating on the fitness of Anrich Nortje, Richardson could get a call up almost instantly for the Capitals in their 2024 campaign. I for one am pretty low on the prospects of Richardson this season, he has battled a lot of injuries in the past year or so and has looked a little out of rhythm. Coming off a BBL season where he averaged 50 GDS fantasy points a game, I think it might be tough to get continuity in his game and match that GDS average in the IND Cricket season. Be wary.
All-rounders
Fresh off his Alan Border medal wining year in Australian colours, Mitch Marsh will look to take the IPL by storm next! Marsh averaged 50.3 GDS fantasy points per game last year, just .3 points behind the Capitals highest scorer Axar Patel. Marsh is just about the perfect player card you can acquire in 2024, he'll bat high up the order, he'll bowl 3-4 overs and he's always in the game in the field. Watch as he takes the league by storm! Axar Patel will be crucial to both GameDay Squad success and any Delhi Capitals success in 2024! Patel has the potential to be Delhi's very own Ravi Jadeja with his complimentary spin to Kuldeep Yadav and devastating match-finishing knocks. Patel finished 2023 as Delhi's highest averaging GameDay Squad fantasy scorer with 50.6 GDS fantasy points per game. The average good enough for a 2nd overall rank amongst All-Rounders league-wide. I can't see how he regresses in fantasy scoring and should be considered a must-start!
Wicket Keeper
The man every one will have their eyes glued on Rishabh Pant! It's been an excruciating long and tumultuous return to cricket for Pant who suffered a life-threatening car incident way back December 2022. Pant, who has 66 T20 Internationals for India already under his belt will be suiting up for Delhi. While there might be some trepidation in starting Pant after his injury and lack of game time, he remains one of the most exciting cricketers in the world and coaches can rest assured that his career IPL average of 34.61 runs per game will hold him in good stead over the course of the competition.
Predicted Starting XI
1. David Warner
2. Prithvi Shaw
3. Mitchell Marsh
4. Rishabh Pant
5. Tristan Stubbs
6. Abishek Porel
7. Axar Patel
8. Lalit Yadav
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Mukesh Kumar
11. Anrich Nortje Impact Player: Khaleel Ahmed