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Having made it to the semi-final twice in the last three editions of the Indian Premier League, the GMR owned Delhi Daredevils will look to shrug off the ‘Kiwi’ syndrome and take home the trophy this season. Injury woes and wayward bowling saw one of the most consistent performers of the tournament slump down to the fifth position in 2010, but under Virender Sehwag’s captaincy (as in the first two seasons) they will look to mimic the second season in the league stages and hope to avoid the choke.

Sturdy ex-international all-rounders like Irfan Pathan, James Hopes and Roelof Van der Merwe are joined by domestic bowling all-rounders like Yogesh Nagar, Ajit Agarkar and Rajesh Powar making this a line up that bats down to number 11 whilst fielding six specialist bowlers. The cause for concern, however, is the fact that many of the players come into the 4^th edition of IPL in not the best of form. Also, they have not done themselves any favours (either on the field or in the hearts of the fans) by letting go of an in-form batsmen and crowd favourites like Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villers and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Their home ground, Ferozshah Kotla, one of the oldest grounds in India, is known for its historic matches and vociferous crowds. Traditionally, spinners are known to make merry on this turf and this IPL might just be the time for a fitter Viru to get back to his off-spinning ways!

Batting: Having retained Virender Sehwag from the previous editions, they have managed to buy back the explosive David Warner to keep their opening slot unchanged. Naman Ojha, who has impressed with both glove and bat in the past for Rajasthan will be joined by the Victorian Bushranger Aaron Finch of Champions League fame to make up the upper middle order. While the first few matches might see Venugopal Rao make the cut over Robin Bist and Sridharan Sriram, he will know that his position is the wobbliest in the line up.

Their recent practice matches saw a few youngsters like Unmukt Chand make their mark with a good batting performance. Chand scored a confident unbeaten 60 and slightly more cautious 49 in three matches and might just be given a chance in the final XI in one of the matches. Irfan Pathan who was impressive with the bat as well in the last IPL will make it in the final XI leaving the South African van der Merwe and the Australian James Hopes fighting for the spot of the second all-rounder. Barring a match winning performance by either, the decision might just be left to the turf considering Hopes is a pacer while the Protea  a spinner.

The current XI does not have a spot for the South African batsman Colin Ingram, but he is likely to get a look-in during one of the league matches. The fact that bowlers like Yogesh Nagar and Rajesh Pawar are all-rounders for their domestic sides means that we might just see Morne Morkel play at number 11! 

Bowling: Delhi will be able to play 6 specialist bowlers no matter what the combination thanks to the all-rounder heavy nature of their squad and this makes them a dangerous team and Sehwag a more relaxed captain. Morne Morkel is likely to open with Ajit Agarkar. While both these bowlers are able wicket takers they have been known to leak runs in the past.

The third edition of the IPL saw a lot of the top teams bringing in a spinner in the fifth over to claim the first wicket of the innings and Amit Mishra and Vettori did a great job for Delhi in this regard. Rajesh Pawar’s success in this slot might very well seal his place in the side leaving Van der Merwe’s position more flexible as he is the foreigner. Both men are slow left-arm spinners and that might make the spin attack a little one-dimensional, a risk especially given the short square boundaries in most Indian grounds.

Yogesh Nagar and Umesh Yadav will be fighting for the role of the fourth pacer and the very fact that it is the fourth pacer that we are talking about might give Nagar the edge as he is the all-rounder. Irfan Pathan’s place in the bowling attack will be left completely to Sehwag and his slot might just be the game changer for the Delhi Daredevils!

Squad:

Batsmen: Virender Sehwag(capt), David Warner, Colin Ingram, Venugopal Rao, Travis Birt, Unmukt Chand, Robin Bist, Aaron Finch, Sridharan Sriram, Matthew Wade, Prashant Naik,

Bowlers: Morne Morkel, Ashok Dinda, Ajit Agarkar, Aavishkar Salvi, Umesh Yadav, Vivek Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Vikas Mishra, Rajesh Pawar, Shahbaz Nadeem.

All Rounders: Naman Ojha(wk),Irfan Pathan, Roelof van der Merwe, Yogesh Nagar, Robert Frylinck, Andrew MacDonald, James Hope.

Support Staff:

Head Coach:Greg Shipperd, Assistant Coach: Eric Simmons, Trainer:Rob Walters, Performance analyst:Trent Woodhill, Physiotherapist:Kirk Russell.

Likely Playing XI: Virender Sehwag(c), David Warner, Naman Ojha(wk), Venugopal Rao, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Roelof van der Merwe, Ajit Agarkar, Rajesh Pawar, Morne Morkel, Yogesh Nagar.

Players to Watch:

Virender Sehwag: An obvious choice but more than his batting, it would be his leadership skills, which would determine Delhi’s destiny this time around. In the absence of Gambhir and fielding many a rookie, Delhi’s campaign can either be a disaster or a chance to emulate Shane Warne’s Rajasthan of the initial IPL, all coming down to Sehwag.

Morne Morkel: The Lanky paceman from South Africa would be the spearhead of Delhi’s attack and while expensive, his ability to pick up wickets will be key to Delhi’s success.

Schedule:

One of the most consistent sides of the three IPLs played so far (semi Finalists in the first two and fifth last year), Delhi Daredevils are a new look side this time around and many ‘unknown’ variables will be seen in the red and blue of Daredevils. Defending the home turf would be very important for Delhi to progress beyond the group stages.

Here’s analyzing Delhi’s flight path in two critical phases.

On Apr 10 they get off the mark with a match against last year's runners up Mumbai, immediately followed by a visit to Jaipur. Kolkata Knight Riders come to Delhi next up with Pune away, again within a gap of a day.

The most critical phase of their itinerary comes with three home games against Deccan Chargers, Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore all in a week. After this a visit down south beckons with Kochi on Apr 30 with the return leg immediately on May 2.

If the Daredevils come out of their first critical phase unscathed or maybe just a scar, they could well seal qualification to the semi-finals before they enter the home stretch. A four game away schedule takes them to Hyderabad (May 5), Mumbai (May 7), Chennai (May 12) and Dharamshala (May 15). Winning at least two of the above four (provided the initial phase went in their favour) might be the difference between 2nd and 4th.

Home fixtures: At the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun Apr 10 vs Mumbai, 4pm
Fri Apr 15 vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 8pm
Tue Apr 19 vs Deccan Chargers, 4pm
Sat Apr 23 vs Kings XI Punjab, 8 pm
Tue Apr 26 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 8pm
Mon May 2 vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 8pm
Sat May 21 vs Pune Warriors, 8pm

Away fixtures:

Tue Apr 12 vs Rajasthan Royals (Sawai Mansingh Stadium), 4pm
Sun Apr 17 vs Pune Warriors (DY Patil Academy), 8pm
Sat Apr 30 vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala (Nehru Stadium), 4pm
Thu May 5 vs Deccan Chargers (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium), 8pm
Sat May 7 vs Mumbai (Wankhede), 8pm
Thu May 12 vs Chennai Super Kings (Chepauk), 8pm
Sun May 15 vs Kings XI Punjab (Dharamshala), 4pm