Ishant Sharma. (Source – IPL)
The Delhi Capitals underwent three back-to-back Indian Premier League seasons without securing a playoff spot, which would have come as a considerable disappointment considering them finishing third, second, and first in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively on points table.
DC have almost always had a roster filled with a mix of seasoned professionals and dynamic youth. However, successful seasons have been far and few.
With the mega-auction approaching, the Capitals’ management might be considering of off-loading a few of their players along with retaining a few of them.
Here are three key players DC can release ahead of IPL 2025:
3. Mukesh Kumar
Despite the medium pacer from Bengal having a much better IPL 2024 as compared to his debut season in the marquee league in terms of wicket-taking, his economy rate has been a major talking point across the two editions. One would imagine a bowler taking 17 wickets in 10 matches to have an economy rate significantly lower than 10.36.
Having been granted his break in the T20I setup in 2023, one would’ve expected him to learn from the international experience and have a lesser economy rate over time. However, it has often been seen with him that he has often been deemed ineffective outside the powerplay.
His death-over bowling is something where he has constantly taken a beating, with his lack of variations having hurt him and DC many a times in the past.
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2. Ishant Sharma
The wiry Indian pacer has been in the DC setup since 2019. However, he has been used sparingly ever since, and one of the main factors has been his age which has slowly caught up with him. In the past few seasons, a series of hamstring pulls and other such ailments have limited his playing time.
With his pace dropping over the seasons, there have been quite a few instances where his hit-the-deck-hard strategy hasn’t paid off, especially on decks not offering a lot of bounce. There have been quite some occurrences where Ishant has been taken off after a sole over during a match.
The management are expected to take a call on the future of the Indian luminary, and it does seem quite realistic wherein Ishant is released ahead of the mega-auction.
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1. Prithvi Shaw
The blazing opener, once touted to be the “next Sachin Tendulkar” suffered a sorrowful decline mainly due to a probable reduction in commitment and focus. His international career could never experiece a takeoff it so rightly deserved, and that had a considerable impace on his confidence which reflected on his IPL performances.
He has been backed season-after-season and has also enhanced expectations with him playing a couple of scorching knocks, only to disappoint in the remainder of the campaign by not being able to capitalize on the starts.
The management is highly likely to seek to offload Shaw, who has only managed to register an average of 23.95 in his 79-match stint with DC.
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