New Delhi Daredevils skipper JP Duminy says they have the right players to win the IPL, which starts on Wednesday.
According to the South African batsman, the Delhi Daredevils have the personnel to go all the way, but a good start and momentum will be crucial if the team wants to have a crack at the Indian Premier League.
Duminy finished fourth on the list of leading batting averages in the IPL last year, scoring 410 runs at an average of 51.25. Bottom-of-the-log Delhi only managed four points and offloaded 13 players in an unprecedented step in order to improve the balance and make-up of their new squad.
‘A feature of our squad this year is our good balance. We also have the all-rounders and the finishers,’ Duminy said.
‘I am impressed with the Indian player strength in our squad. ‘Yuvraj Singh and I would look at the number four- and number five position.
‘Mohammed Shami is a leading Indian bowler and his role will be vital,’ Duminy said. It would be important to secure the right combinations within the next seven to ten days and to get a few early wins under our belt in order to find momentum,’ he said.
Three members of the South African team that featured in the recent semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup, are part of the Delhi-squad. Quinton de Kock could open the innings, while Imran Tahir, following a world-class performance for South Africa in the knockout-match against Sri Lanka, would be a strong contender for the starting eleven.
Albie Morkel’s 102-ball assault yielded an unbeaten 134 in the final of the Momentum One Day Cup which powered The Unlimited Titans to a five-wicket win.
Duminy captained the South African T20-team in Australia in November 2014. Commenting on that leadership experience, the experienced player of the Nashua Cape Cobras and South Africa said: ‘It is always nice to have some sort of reference point, which will give me confidence.
‘Captaining Delhi will present a different challenge. I don’t know a lot of those players personally. How to get the best out of them individually and as a squad is a good challenge.’
Delhi got off to a horrific start in 2014, and a feature of their campaign was the lack of form of both the senior batsmen and their bowling attack.
Asked about who will carry the favourite tag, Duminy said the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super kings have both won the title a couple of times and boast several very good Indian players. The Kings X1 Punjab and Kolkota Knight Riders are also classy outfits.
‘I definitely think we have the personnel to go all the way, but a good start and getting some early wins under our belt will be crucial,’ Duminy added.
The Delhi Daredevils squad: JP Duminy (capt), Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammed Shami, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock, Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Agarwal, Imran Tahir, Jayant Yadav, Angelo Mathews, Yuvraj Singh, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat, Gurinder Sandhu, Shreyas Iyer, CM Gautam (wk), Dominic Muthuswamy, Albie Morkel, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Kona Bharat, KK Jiyaz, Zaheer Khan.
