Delhi Daredevils are set to host Mumbai Indians in a potentially exciting clash in IPL 4, at Delhi, on Sunday, April 10. Led by Virendra Sehwag, DD will have their task cut out against a formidable MI team, who are equally strong in batting and bowling, including India stars, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel.
In order to compete with MI, DD will need to have cricbuzz ipl match list 2023 their best men doing duty on Sunday. In this article, I take a look at the best possible eleven that DD could field, taking into account the fitness and availability of players.
The four foreign players that DD are allowed to include in their eleven must be chosen from Aaron Finch, James Hopes, Andrew McDonald, Roelof van der Merwe, David Warner, Travis Birt, Robert Frylinck, Colin Ingram, Morne Morkel and Matthew Wade. Of these, James Hopes, an all-rounder, David Warner, a specialist batsman, and Morne Morkel, a specialist bowler, appear to be automatic choices. For the fourth choice, I would prefer an all-rounder, and van der Merwe fits the bill.
Selecting seven Indians, from the following list of players, to complete the eleven, is a greater challenge: Sehwag, Ajit Agarkar, Robin Bist, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Chandila, Shahbaz Nadeem, Prashant Naik, Aavishkar Salvi, Vikas Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Unmukt Chand, Ashok Dinda, Yogesh Nagar, Naman Ojha, Rajesh Pawar, Sridharan Sriram, Venugopal Rao, Tejashwi Yadav and Vivek Yadav.
Apart from skipper Sehwag, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao and Naman Ojha appear to be automatic choices. Ojha is a wicketkeeper batsman, while Agarkar, Pathan and Rao are all-rounders.
S. Sriram, a left-hander with a 50-plus first class batting average, and the ability to bowl slow left arm orthodox spin, is my next choice. For the eleventh place, my choice is a specialist bowler, Shahbaz Nadeem, who bowls left arm orthodox spin, and has an economy rate of less than 6, in T20 matches.
My eleven players, in batting order, are as follows: Sehwag, Warner, Sriram, Rao, Hopes, Ojha, Pathan, Agarkar, van der Merwe, Morkel, Nadeem.
Can this team give Mumbai Indians a run for their money? With a surfeit of all-rounders, the DD team has depth in batting. There are big hitters in Sehwag and Warner, and some solid middle order players, in Rao and Hopes. Pathan can be promoted up the order if needed, and Agarkar is no mean batsman, himself.