4 Players Delhi should never have let go in the previous seasons

The best players don't win you tournaments, the best team does. This can aptly be seen from the performance of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL over the years, who have retained a majority of their players through the course of time, managing to keep the core of the team constant and in the process, allowing a strong understanding among the players within the side.

The 12th season of the Indian Premier League will get underway in 2019, the auctions for which is likely to begin in a weeks' time. Among the eight regular teams to have played all the seasons (barring CSK and RR for two seasons), Delhi Daredevils, now Delhi Capitals, is one team which showed a lot of promises initially but failed to deliver the goods when it mattered, succumbing to the grind of franchise-based cricket.

That fact that they have never reached the finals in all these years strongly indicates something amiss among the Delhi franchise. In the initial five years since the inception of the T20 league, Delhi side showed inspiring performances, finishing thrice in top four from 2007-2012.

The initial core of the members included quality cricketers and had a good mix of national and international players in the side. However, the owners somehow showed a little impatience, and let go off a bulk of good recruits, ultimately resulting in a huge dip in performance since 2013.

Here we take a look at four players which the Delhi side let go, a decision impacting the core balance of the side, ultimately leading to a miserable 10 years in the league.

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1. AB De Villiers

The former South African captain started off his IPL journey with the Delhi Daredevils, having a forgetful first season, wherein he managed a mere 95 runs in six games for the Delhi franchise. In the second edition held in his home country, the South African magician came into his own, scoring heavily for his side with a total of 465 runs at a whopping average in excess of 50.

He even was one of the two centurions in the 2009 season, sharing the honors with Bangalore's Manish Pandey. Despite having a decent run with the team, de Villiers was not retained by the Delhi franchise, with the owners letting him go to Bangalore for a prize of US$ 1.5 Million.

Ever since his transfer to Bangalore, de Villiers has played inspiring knocks for the southern franchise, managing a minimum of 300 runs in seven out of the eight seasons with three of those in excess of 400. De Villiers' ability to start the innings in fifth gear and play sensibly when needed, was something that Delhi lacked over the years.

They might not accept it, but losing out on the maverick South African batsman, Delhi possibly dug a hole for themselves.

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2. Gautam Gambhir

Releasing Gautam Gambhir proved to be a bad decision, as he turned around the fortunes for KKR after moving to the Bengal franchise.

Gambhir had an astonishing start to the IPL season, scoring a mammoth 534 runs in the inaugural season for the Delhi franchise. He became the highest scorer for the Delhi side in 2008 season, opening the innings with Virender Sehwag, which led Delhi to the playoffs in the very first season.

Though the next two seasons were not as good, but Gambhir at that time was in his prime, performing exceptionally well for India in all formats, even playing a huge role in the country's double World Cup triumphs.

In 2011, he was released by the Daredevils, a decision that shocked many cricketing greats. He then went on to play for Kolkata Knight Riders from 2011-2017, and had a dream run with the side, leading the Bengal franchise to title victories twice. Along with inspiring performances with the bat, he turned out to be a perfect leader, drawing huge respect from his colleagues.

Delhi definitely missed Gambhir once they let him go, with a significant dip in their performance post 2012 coinciding with an equal rise in stature for the diminutive opener.

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3. Morne Morkel

Morne Morkel had an amazing run with Delhi, but moved on to KKR, becoming the premier bowler for the Knights.

The lanky South African pace bowler, Morkel began his IPL journey with Rajasthan Royals for the first three seasons. In 2011, in a smart move, Morkel was picked by the Delhi franchise to bolster their pace attack. Even though he had an ordinary initial season with Delhi, Morkel stole the limelight in 2012, picking up 25 wickets for Delhi Daredevils. He went on to become the leading wicket-taker for the side, earning the purple cap at the end of the season.

Lack of form in the next seasons prompted Delhi to run out of patience again, letting go the South African asset in 2015.

Post-2015, Gautam Gambhir convinced the Kolkata owners to pick the South African premier bowler, a decision that turned out to be spot on, with Morkel turning out to be their strike bowler in the coming editions. With consistent lengths and good variations, Morkel proved his worth for KKR, performing brilliantly with the ball up front.

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4. Tilakratne Dilshan

Tilakratne Dilshan was a part of Delhi during the 2009 IPL

The former Sri Lanka opener played for Delhi in the first three editions of the IPL, coming into his own in the second edition. Dilshan had a phenomenal 2009 IPL season, scoring 418 runs for the team, also taking the world by storm with his famous "Dilscoop". With Gambhir and Sehwag in their ranks, he could not be used as an opener and hence, the team management considered the number 3 slot to be the best for the former Sri Lankan opener.

After an offseason with the bat in 2010, Dilshan was released from the Delhi squad, again coming as an astonishing decision for all. With Sehwag and Gambhir gone, the former Sri Lanka great could easily have been utilized at the opening slot, something which their Bangalore counterpart did manage later on.

Despite being in the wane of his career, Dilshan managed to play some memorable knocks for Bangalore, providing brisk starts along with Caribbean great Chris Gayle.

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