IPL 2014: Delhi Daredevils - Rally behind Kevin Pietersen

The DD Powerhouses:

To complement the uncertainty that is DK in the top 2, you need to add some certainty, and, when it comes with flair and brains, you should take it.

Enter the messiah – Kevin Pietersen as the other opener

Even though he is Pietersen, he is still a South African- born Englishman. It doesn’t make sense asking him to play in the middle order when the spinners will have the best chance to pick up the wickets, more so when you have got alternatives. Give him space and employ him when any subcontinental pitch in the world will be good for batting. Let him gauge the nature of the pitch, have an effect on every Indian youngster who comes in, guide them and the team to glory.

Perhaps one needs to be reminded that when Pietersen was going through one of the most wretched phases of his career while playing in the UAE against Pakistan, he was promoted as an opener and fortunes changed all of a sudden.

JP Duminy vs. Ross Taylor:

Ross Taylor would play a crucial role in deciding DD’s fate – by sitting out

With the first 4 spots sealed and the no. 6 position being too low to play either JP Duminy or Ross Taylor, they have one spot to fight it out. Batting wise, the results wouldn’t be too different. However, with his valuable and underrated off-spin bowling, Duminy gets the nod ahead. His entry is likely to get delayed with solid players up top, and that would prevent him from being exposed to spinners, one of his weak points.

Jimmy Neesham:

Jimmy Neesham showed that he isn’t all slam-bang in his Test debut against India back home. How does that mean anything to him playing at No. 6 for DD, you may ask? It doesn’t matter, yes.

I took that up because Neesham is quality, and more so because I earmarked him for greater things, here— Players who can take CLT20 by storm

With added options of medium pace bowling, an asset when you consider that he is just the 5th bowler, and his natural finishing skills, Neesham has to play.

The Ross Taylor goof up:

Playing Taylor ahead of Neesham seems to be most popular choice. Just think of how would your batting order look like then? Out of your two best players against spin, one will bat at No. 6 (Jadhav) and the other will sit out (Tiwary). You need players who can take the game to the opposition at No. 3 and No. 4, and Ross Taylor and JP Duminy won’t do that on these pitches. Even KP would be left rattled under pressure.

It is not the names that win you games, so maximise what you can get from these players. You don’t play at Hamilton or Johannesburg to have fancy names in the middle.

Bowling unit:

The four bowlers fill in automatically – Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Sharma, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Rahul Sharma:

Actually after the first time that I saw him in action in IPL, I thought I would never have to explain the importance of having him in the team. Sadly though, his career has taken the downward spiral ever since. For a bowler who made Michael Hussey struggle in Australia and Chris Gayle in a flat deck at Pune, he should be in the Indian team with the World Cup 2015 to be held at Oceania, where pitches suit his style of bowling.

Being a spinner who loves to extract bounce, the UAE decks aren’t what he would typically relish. He is more than just that, though. Rahul Sharma has the ability to choke even the best in the business through clever variations in pace and length, and the only factor that can stop him is himself. Anyway, he deserves a look in to know what kind of an effect he can have.

The last spot shoot-out

(Mayank Agarwal, Siddharth Kaul and Rahul Shukla):

Flat deck – Agarwal at No. 7

What are the typical expectations of a batsman when you play him as low as No. 7?

- Apparently, exceptional slogging abilities and not even an iota of thinking behind what he does, a role which Agarwal fits in perfectly.

I rate his hitting abilities very high, if only he can have saner top. Despite him being used as an opener by the state teams and even in IPL on occasions, I don’t think he suits the purpose, for he can neither play the ball when it turns nor when it seams around. He is a monstrous hitter, and I would even go as far as to say that he deserves a place in the national team for his hitting abilities down the order.

Kaul – When the pitch has some grass on it, his 4 overs up front will be a real asset.

Rahul Shukla – With a bit of juice on the track, the pace that Shukla generates should come in handy.

First choice replacement:

Saurabh Tiwary:

After a stellar season with Mumbai Indians in IPL 3, he has absoutely done nothing till date. It is not entirely his mistake, although he should take a fair share of blame, too. The Royal Challengers Bangalore think tank mistook him for a finisher while buying him ahead of IPL 4 which has resulted in all the mess.

One aspect of the game that was quite evident in his days with Mumbai was that he needed time to settle, just like a certain MS Dhoni from the same state of Jharkhand does. RCB, however, failed miserably in their ploy to try him out at No. 5/6. With the kind of top 4 they had, Tiwary almost always came in late into the innings, only to neither get his timing nor power behind his shots, whereas in Mumbai Indians he was used as a number 3, sandwiched between an assured Sachin Tendulkar and a versatile Ambati Rayudu.

Simply put, a batsman who could pull Dale Steyn off the front foot can never go wrong: Saurabh Tiwary did it with disdain and to different bowlers over a season.

Since the matches are going to be played on decks that offer extra spin, the other Tiwary gets the nod in my 11. The only other debatable position is no. 7, a spot which Saurabh would never want to think about.

I don’t really think that DD have a weak bowling up, like many do. 5 above average bowlers in Coulter-Nile, Shami, Nadeem, Rahul Sharma and Kaul/Shukla when combined with the part time options of Duminy and Neesham under an astute captain in Pietersen will punch above their weight. The batting order needs to be sorted out, though. The sooner the ‘expected DD 11‘ changes to ‘my DD 11‘, the better and the more exciting it would be.

In KP, I believe! Do watch this space, as I will be taking you through the roller-coaster ride as Sportskeeda’s Daredevils blogger for the season.