IPL 2018: SWOT Analysis of Delhi Daredevils

When the Indian Premier League auctions for the 2018 season came to a close on the 28th of January, it was time to look at the sides who could sleep well until April arrived and the league began and others who would worry about team combinations.

One of the few teams who can say they belong to the former category as we get closer and closer to Game 1 of IPL 2018 are Delhi Daredevils, who have put together a squad of 25 players and can head into the league confident of putting out a Championship-winning outfit.

Here's a SWOT analysis of the side:

Strengths

The first impression that any cricket writer or an intelligent supporter would get on seeing the team is how well-rounded they are as a squad.

In the batting department, they have got explosive overseas players in Colin Munro, Jason Roy and Glenn Maxwell. Among the Indian batting talent, they have the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Gurkeerat Singh Mann.

On the bowling front, they have Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult in the squad, along with the likes of Mohammad Shami, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem and Jayant Yadav.

Now, it is up to Gambhir and the management to put together a XI that can compete against most, if not all teams.

Weaknesses

Pant and Iyer will form the backbone of the Daredevils side

It is strange but the strength of the Delhi Daredevils could well actually turn out to be their weakness.

Either of Munro or Roy could open with Gambhir at the top. Post that, there is Iyer, who had a terrific season last year, followed by Pant, who might not be coming in with the greatest deal of confidence after an average outing in the Nidahas Trophy.

Then there is Maxwell and with him, no one ever knows which version would turn up and then you are looking into the all-rounders and the bowlers.

So, the Daredevils are essentially putting a lot of faith in Munro, Gambhir, Iyer and, to an extent, Pant to get the runs, making their batting extremely top heavy.

It was a problem the Royal Challengers Bangalore faced when they had Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and so opposition sides walked into games thinking, "If we have them 10/3, the game is done and dusted there."

So, the Daredevils need to be wary of that and it once again boils down to the combinations.

Opportunities

A good season with both bat and ball could aid Jayant Yadav's chances of making a comeback

A lot of players in this present Daredevils squad can use this edition of the IPL as a chance to stake a claim for a regular spot in the Indian setup.

Jayant Yadav, for instance, has a great opportunity to show that he deserves to be in the reckoning for the finger-spinner's role in limited-overs cricket for India.

Same goes for someone like a Shami, who will be returning to competitive action after a gap of over two months.

It also gives someone like a Munro an opportunity to delight Indian fans with his power-hitting.

The league presents a lot of players with a lot of chances. It now remains to be seen which of those players grabs those opportunities that come their way and excels for the franchise.

Threats

The IPL has always seen the best of Amit Mishra when he has put on the Daredevils jersey

There are quite a few players in this Daredevils franchise who could give the opposition a few sleepless nights.

Munro, for instance, at the top of the order, can take the game completely away in the initial stages and would fancy his own chances of doing that considering the shorter boundaries at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Someone like a Chris Morris could also prove to be a game-changer for the side with his ability to pick up wickets and tonk the ball late in the innings.

But if there is a player who has always performed for the side whenever he has put on that Daredevils jersey, it is Amit Mishra.

Out of the 134 wickets that he has taken in his IPL career, 78 out of them have come while playing for this franchise and the team would be hoping for him to come good in this year's competition as well.