NEW DELHI: Ahead of this weekend's 2018
IPL player auction in Bengaluru, at which 578 players will go under the hammer for 182 open slots for the league's 11th season, here's a look at how Delhi Daredevils are stacked up and what kind of players they may want to acquire.
ALSO READ: IPL 2018 Auction guide Money to spend: Rs 47 crore
RTM cards: 2
ALSO READ: What the franchises look like Who they have: Wicketkeeper: Rishabh PantBatsman: Shreyas IyerAllrounder: Chris MorrisWhat they need: Fast bowlers, spinners, allrounders and middle-order batsmen and a captain worth his salt.
The Gambhir questionGautam Gambhir, home grown and who captained Delhi to the Ranji Trophy final this season, has to be on Daredevils' radar. Not retained by Kolkata Knight Riders despite being their all-time leading run-getter and captain of two IPL titles, the 36-year-old has hinted at how he is keen to finish his career at his home city. Considering the leadership and batting impact that Gambhir had on KKR - as an IPL captain, he is arguably second to none - a perennially muddled franchise like Daredevils could hugely benefit from his presence. His tactical nous could guide the young heads of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the two hugely talented young Indians that the GMR-owned franchise retained, and having him either separate the pair at one-down or opening with Iyer, who has 807 runs in 32 games fro Daredevils, would be a batting asset.
Bolstering the batting In Iyer and Pant, Daredevils have two exciting batsman. Pant also keeps wickets, so they are not in any urgent need for a wicketkeeper-batsman. But opening options are required in case Iyer does not start off strongly, and middle-order players are needed to ease the burden on Pant and Chris Morris. Should Gambhir return to Daredevils, there is a possibility that this will influence the owners to bring with him some pillars of KKR's success, such as Manish Pandey and
Robin Uthappa. The pair would give the franchise two proven top-order options.
In any scenario, an experienced opener is a must because that is an aspect which Daredevils have neglected for far too long. Could they bid for one of Jason Roy or
Aaron Finch or the more affordable Colin Munro? Or could they stick with their youth-driven focus and punt on names like the uncapped Australian D'Arcy Short who has scorched the Big Bash League charts this season, or New Zealand's Glenn Phillips who can also keep wickets?
Uncapped Indians such as the in-form Mayank Agarwal, Under-19 stars Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan, Baroda's Deepak Hooda or Delhi's Nitish Rana are other names Daredevils could bid for.
Horses for courses Given the slow and low nature of Daredevils' home ground, the Feroz Shah Kotla, there is a requirement for medium-pacers and spinners. One major target could be left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, whose recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy performances have been timely. The New Zealand pair of Ish Sodhi (the No 1 bowler in T20Is) and Mitchell Santner have low base prices and may also find themselves the target of Daredevils' think-tank. Allrounders such as Ben Stokes, Colin de Grandhomme, Marcus Stoinis, Vijay Shankar, Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting, Hilton Cartwright and Rovman Powell are possible interests.
Daredevils can be expected to chase exciting pace bowlers, as they always have. The rookie South African quick Lungi Ngidi could be in line for a good pay check, as could Australia's Andrew Tye who is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing BBL and the uncapped West Indian Jofra Archer whose exploits in the BBL have set tongues wagging. Daredevils could also use one of their RTM cards on Pat Cummins.
Possible targets: Gautam Gambhir (base price Rs 2 crore), Mayank Agarwal (base price Rs 20 lakh), Ben Stokes (base price Rs 2 crore), Colin de Grandhomme (base price Rs 75 lakh), Marcus Stoinis (base price Rs 2 crore), Shubman Gill (base price Rs 20 lakh), Prithvi Shaw (base price Rs 20 lakh), Deepak Hooda (base price 40 lakh), Ishan Kishan (base price 40 lakh), D'Arcy Short (base price Rs 20 lakh), Kuldeep Yadav (base price Rs 1.5 crore), Glenn Phillips (base price Rs 50 lakh), Colin Munro (base price Rs 50 lakh), D'Arcy Short (base price Rs 20 lakh), Nitish Rana (base price Rs 20 lakh), Pat Cummins (base price Rs 2 crore), Lungi Ngidi (base price Rs 50 lakh), Jofra Archer (base price Rs 40 lakh), Ben Cutting (base price Rs 1 crore), Hilton Cartwright (base price Rs 50 lakh), Rovman Powell (base price Rs 50 lakh), Mitchell Santner (base price Rs 50 lakh), Ish Sodhi (base price Rs 50 lakh).