The Indian Premier League 2023 has already started with Gujarat Titans facing Chennai Super Kings on Friday (March 31) at Ahmedabad. With the same excitement and flavour, India’s biggest festival will take place for nearly two months from March 31 to May 28.
The 10-team tournament will witness a total of 70 league matches, plus four playoff matches to be played across 12 different venues in the country. The home-and-away format is back in the league after a hiatus of three years, caused by the COVID pandemic.
On that note, let’s preview the Delhi Capitals side, who have been one of the finest performers in the last few editions.
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Can DC win the IPL 2023?
Delhi Capitals certainly look like a formidable side to have a shot at the IPL 2023 title but lack all-round potency. The top order is rock-solid, but the middle order has some uncertainties, while the fast-bowling unit could not proficient enough in the last edition.
The Capitals ranked sixth in terms of best economy rate (8.60) in the 2022 edition and need to be sharp with their plans and execution against top-quality opposition teams. Anrich Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed are proven performers, but Chetan Sakariya is yet to prove his worth in the cash-rich league.
A lot will depend on David Warner-Prithvi Shaw’s start, as their aggressive attitude might help the middle-order to play fearless cricket and put the opposition under the pump. The spinners, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will need to put a check on the run rate, and keep taking wickets in the middle overs to put DC on the top.
It will be interesting to see how the Capitals fare in the IPL 2023 under the leadership of Warner in terms of working on their strengths and overcoming their challenges.
Delhi Capitals squad: IPL 2023
After an average season for Delhi Capitals in the 2022 edition, the franchise didn’t remove many players from the franchise. They released only four, namely Ashwin Hebbar, K.S. Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Tim Seifert. It’s interesting to note that they are all batters, and the team already had a bunch of talented batters, who couldn’t get enough chances in 2022.
In the IPL auction, DC bought five experienced players, Rilee Rossouw, Manish Pandey, Ishant Sharma, Phil Salt and Mukesh Kumar for the 2023 season. Rossouw has been in splendid form in the T20s, while Manish Pandey and Phil Salt have been doing well with the bat in their respective domestic circuit. In the bowling unit, Mukesh Kumar recently earned a national call-up after consistent performances. The veteran pacer, Sharma’s fitness hasn’t been top-notch in the last two years and is a backup option for DC.
The skipper Rishabh Pant will not be available for the team due to his unfortunate accident in December 2022. In his place of him, David Warner will captain the side and bring his rich IPL leadership experience onto the side. The Australian will open alongside Prithvi Shaw to provide the team with a box-office start in the powerplay.
Mitchell Marsh, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel are credible batters for their respective national teams, while Sarfaraz Khan has impressed in the domestic circuit. Then, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed are likely to be the quartet in the bowling department.
Full DC team player list
Full Squad: Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner (c), Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw, Abishek Porel
Probable Playing XI: David Warner (c), Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan (wk), Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav/Manish Pandey, Chetan Sakariya, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed
Delhi Capitals history
In the first two seasons of the IPL, the Delhi-based franchise managed to seal a spot in the knockouts, but could not calm their nerves to lift the trophy. Apart from 2012, the team could not produce impressive performances until the 2018 season.
In December 2018, JSW Sports Group took ownership of 50%, with the rest already owned by GMR. The change in ownership also brought changes to their name from Delhi Daredevils to Delhi Capitals, which worked in their favour.
The Capitals reached the playoffs in 2019, under the leadership of young leader Shreyas Iyer. In the subsequent season, DC did exceedingly well but fell short against Mumbai Indians in the final to emerge as the runners-up. Then, Rishabh Pant led the side to another playoffs in 2021, but they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 2.
In the previous edition, the Capitals won seven out of 14 league matches and finished in the fifth position in the points table. It will be interesting to see if they can finally win a trophy in the 2023 season.
| Year | Final standing |
| 2008 | Semi-finalists |
| 2009 | Semi-finalists |
| 2010 | League stage |
| 2011 | League stage |
| 2012 | Playoffs |
| 2013 | League stage |
| 2014 | League stage |
| 2015 | League stage |
| 2016 | League stage |
| 2017 | League stage |
| 2018 | League stage |
| 2019 | Playoffs |
| 2020 | Runners up |
| 2021 | Playoffs |
| 2022 | League stage |
Delhi Capitals IPL 2023 Schedule
Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday (April 1) at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. The franchise will return to its home venue after two years, having played its last game at Arun Jaitley Stadium in May 2021.
The Arun Jaitley Stadium (formerly known as Ferozshah Kotla) will be home to DC’s seven matches in this season. They will play the remaining seven league matches at the opposition’s venues.
Delhi Capitals: Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
● Explosive batting unit
Delhi Capitals have a solid batting unit at their top-six positions. Although Rishabh Pant’s absence would hurt them in finding the perfect seven batters, still they will look to be confident with their approach and win most of the games with this line-up.
The openers, David Warner (432) and Prithvi Shaw (283) were impressive for the team in the last edition, with their ball-striking abilities and great starts to the team. Warner was able to convert most of his starts to big scores, which would keep him confident ahead of this season.
Mitchell Marsh emerged as the top-scorer in the recent ODI series against India with 194 runs in three innings. Certainly, Marsh is looking in terrific touch and is a key player at No.3 with his experience and pressure-handling capabilities. The newly appointed West Indies captain Rovman Powell scored 250 runs at 149.70 in 2022 and the same is expected in this edition as well.
Sarfaraz Khan has been exceptional in the Ranji Trophy batting charts for the last few years and is already a great exponent in shorter formats. With an improved presence of mind and hitting prowess, he will play the role of a finisher. The southpaw, Axar Patel has been delivering well for the Indian team across all formats with the bat, and the same is expected from him in the IPL 2023 edition as well. Most importantly, he is chosen as the deputy to Warner and will be upbeat due to his form and track record.
● Experienced spinners
The Delhi Capitals have a great batting unit but would rely on their bowling unit to defend the scores. Although there are some doubts on their selections of pacers in the XI, the spin unit will be headed by Kuldeep Yadav and supported by Axar Patel.
In the last season, Kuldeep took the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the first few matches with his impressive bowling performances, which included 4/14 against Kolkata Knight Riders. He took 21 wickets and emerged as the team's highest wicket-taker.
Axar, with his accurate line and lengths and wicket-taking skills, will be useful for the team. Although he took only six wickets, he kept it tight with an economy rate of 7.46.
Weaknesses
● Middle-order trouble
In the absence of Rishabh Pant, DC certainly have a big hole to fill in the middle order. Irrespective of Axar’s batting position, the presence of one potent batter is necessary for DC at the number six/seven position. The batters like Rilee Rossouw and Phil Salt are quality options, but they will need to sacrifice on the bowling front to accommodate them in the XI.
The place might be filled with Manish Pandey, Lalit Yadav, Yash Dhull or Ripal Patel. Pandey gets the advantage, due to his experience in the IPL. However, he scored only 88 runs in six innings for Lucknow Super Giants in 2022, and keeping him in the XI would mean DC have only five bowling options. If any of the bowlers have a bad day, they need another bowling option as well.
Lalit has featured in 19 IPL matches ahead of the 2023 season and is an all-rounder. However, he didn’t have any huge impact, which could put him perfectly in the scheme of things.
This would keep Sarfaraz Khan and Rovman Powell under pressure to stay longer at the crease and provide a good finish to the team, which would be against their natural game. So, DC needs to clear out the doubts in this spot and finalize their playing XI in the first few games.
FAQs
Who is the DC captain for IPL 2023? David Warner will lead the Delhi Capitals in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League
Who was the most expensive player bought by DC in the IPL 2023 auction? Mukesh Kumar was bought for INR 5.5 crore in the IPL 2023 auction
