The Delhi Daredevils seem to have left no stones unturned in a hope of a possible revival of their fortune- something that has dwindled further and further since their opening two seasons.
While marquee players like Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Matthews- two of the most expensive players of 2015- along with the services of a world class coach in Gary Kirsten couldn’t help the franchise, the management has now sought for some dependency and reliability in perhaps India’s most reliable of the modern greats, Rahul Dravid.
It has been reported that the Daredevils have been in pursuit of the former Indian captain in order to avail his services as the coach of the team. Dravid, who has had a magical impact on the India Under-19 side since he took over as their coach, has begun his coaching career perhaps as successfully as he had begun his playing one.
The beleaguered Delhi side, on the other hand, has released both of its costliest buys- Yuvraj and Matthews- along with domestic players like Manoj Tiwary, C.M. Gautam and Jaydev Unadkat.
The third highest all-time Test run-scorer had been involved with the now-suspended Rajasthan Royals franchise as their mentor for the past couple of seasons, the contract for which ended on December 31.
The maestro, however, hasn’t given any clear indications about his willingness to accept the offer as his current side would be needing his services at the fullest during the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2016 to be held in January-February in Bangladesh.
"I have a few offers to do different things but not making any decision till the end of February. So no decision yet," Dravid told Mirror.
The IPL side that finished seventh last season had also approached Ray Jennings, the current RCB coach, and Andy Flower, the former England coach in order to rope them in.
"The owner (Kiran Kumar Grandhi) of the franchise will decide. He has made it clear that he will take the final call on this matter," said an official of the Daredevils camp.
The team had a torrid 2015 season under JP Duminy wherein they won just 5 of their 14 games and finished second from the bottom. The 2014 season was even worse, as they managed to win just two games out of 14.
The team has had as many as 9 captains over 8 seasons with only their home-grown boys- Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir- having decent win percentages. Having said that, on February 6, when the teams sit for auctions in Bangalore, the Daredevils would pick their cards wisely and hope for a little bit of luck.
The list of players released by different franchises was made public by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) yesterday that saw heavyweights such as Dale Steyn, Kevin Pietersen, and George Bailey amongst others being released by their respective franchises.
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