The existing eight franchises of the Indian Premier League have announced their final lists of retained players on November 30 ahead of the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auctions. The upcoming IPL 2022 Mega Auction is going to be very important for all the ten teams. It will be the final opportunity for the teams to build their squad from scratch. Each franchise will look forward to acquire players who can be their long term partners. There was a limit on the number of retentions for each team. And many teams have not even utilized their four retentions so that they can have a higher purse amount for the mega auction. Some teams will target young talent whereas some teams will look for a new captain. In this article we will talk about Delhi Capitals and its approach towards the mega auction. It will be interesting to see who they will target now as they have been forced to release most of their key players. IPL 2022 Mega Auction: DC five target players.
Delhi Capitals have been one of the most consistent teams in the Indian Premier League off late. They had a memorable season in IPL 2021. They dominated the edition for the most part and even topped the league stage before their dreams of winning the title for the first time crashed as they lost both their matches of play offs. They have named their four retentions ahead of the forthcoming season with quite a few surprises. The Delhi Capitals went with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (Rs 16 crore) who is most likely to continue as their captain, left-arm spinner Axar Patel (Rs 9 crore), opener Prithvi Shaw (Rs 7.5 crore), and Anrich Nortje (Rs 6.5 crore). Among the big names they released were Shikhar Dhawan, former captain Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Steve Smith, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Kagiso Rabada.
IPL 2022 DC target players
While Pant will continue to lead the Capitals, they sprung quite a few surprises letting go of their top run-getter for the last two seasons Shikhar Dhawan and their most valuable foreign player Kagiso Rabada. As has been the case with Delhi Capitals for quite some time now, they have heavily banked the on young guns and their retention list speaks so. They now have a purse of Rs 47.5 crore left for the mega auction. Keeping in mind the same, we look at five players DC could target at the auction in January.
Marcus Stoinis
Delhi Capitals don’t need reminding of what a valuable all-rounder Stoinis is, since he was with the franchise before being released. Stoinis played some crucial knocks for Australia in their title-clinching T20 World Cup campaign. He came in under pressure and made some vital contributions, his unbeaten 24 against South Africa at the start of the tournament and his 40* in the semi-final say a lot. Australia did not need him much with the ball considering their bowling strength, but he is a decent fifth bowler.
In IPL 2021, he scored only 89 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 123.61 and claimed two wickets. Considering the form that he is in, Delhi must look to pick the all-rounder at the upcoming mega auction. His all-rounder image makes him a prime candidate in the list of IPL 2022 DC target players.
Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal has been an amazing revelation for Royal Challengers Bangalore but they had to let him go in order to retain others. Having released veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan, Delhi Capitals will be on the lookout for a solid opener and who is better than Padikkal to fill the big shoes of Dhawan. In the 29 matches he has played in the last two seasons, Padikkal has amassed 884 runs at an average of over 30 and is the player who can give his side solid starts. The Karnataka opener has the ability to adapt to situations and change gears at will makes him a perfect opener along with Prithvi Shaw. He also comes in the list of DC target players 2022.
Harshal Patel
The revelation of IPL 2021, Harshal Patel will undoubtedly be a hot topic in the upcoming mega auction. Despite being the top performer of 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore they decided to release him. And DC could be one of the franchises who could dive deep to get him on their side. Off late, the Capitals have had issues with their death bowling despite having a balanced side and Harshal could help them solve this. Patel, the purple cap holder of 2021 season holds the record of most wickets in a season (32) and even had a hat-trick this year. His slower balls have been lethal and he has been consistent with his wicket-taking even with the Indian team. Patel will be the player to watch out for next season and Delhi will be looking to rope him in at any cost. His latest wicket taking record makes him a potential candidate in the list of DC target players 2022 mega auction.
Quinton de Kock
DC were forced to release their opener Shikhar Dhawan and decided to retain Shaw, keeping the future in mind. South African wicketkeeper and batsman De Kock could be one of the alternatives. De Kock can open the innings and keep wickets if Pant needs rest. The Proteas opener did not have a great run in the T20 World Cup. But he was released by MI after an underwhelming season and Delhi Capitals might go for him as a decent purchase of the auction. He has a strike rate of 130 in 77 matches of his IPL career. He has also been part of the team before their rebranding from 2014-2017. He brings along the experience and great big-hitting ability.
Kagiso Rabada
The Capitals retained Nortje over Rabada in their retention list. But the franchise must look to buy back the latter at the auction. He might have been off-color in IPL 2021, but Rabada is a proven performer with the ball. The Purple Cap winner of IPL 2020, Kagiso Rabada has only played for Delhi Capitals in his IPL career and is expected to continue his association with them. In 2018 as well, DC retained him via RTM card and spent Rs 4.2 crore. Rabada took the lead role for DC from 2019 and scalped 25 wickets in that season. He followed up with 30 wickets in the next season. He is a player they would not want to let go. His form in the recent seasons is a topic of concern but he still makes to the list of DC target players 2022.
