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DELHI CAPITALS WOMEN (DC-W)
Coaching Staff
Head Coach - Jonathan Batty
Assistant Coaches - Hemalata Kala & Lisa Keightley
Fielding Coach - Biju George
Captain - Meg Lanning
Vice Captain - Jemimah Rodrigues
SQUAD with Auction Price
Players - Amount (in Lakhs)
Jemimah Rodrigues - 220
Meg Lanning - 110
Shafali Verma - 200
Radha Yadav - 40
Shikha Pandey - 60
Marizanne Kapp - 150
Titas Sadhu - 25
Alice Capsey - 75
Tara Norris - 10
Laura Harris - 45
Jasia Akter - 20
Minnu Mani - 30
Taniya Bhatia - 30
Poonam Yadav - 30
Jess Jonassen - 50
Sneha Deepthi - 30
Arundhati Reddy - 30
Aparna Mondal - 10
Delhi Capitals are one of the 3 franchises in this Women's Premier League who has been part of Indian Premier League since its inaugural season. Subsequently, Capitals had experience of many auctions & were expected to have that composure throughout the auction. Their best overseas buys include the World Champion Captain Meg Lanning, South African star all rounder Marizanne Kapp, Australian wicket taking bowler Jess Jonassen & emerging all rounder Alice Capsey. They also picked Indian Internationals Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey & experienced Poonam Yadav.
Despite these good buys, they might not look the favourites of this inaugural season of WPL.
Let's have a look at what are their strength & weakness and what trick they missed in the auction and what makes them different from other teams.
Firstly, let's have a look at their squad Player by Player:
1. Meg Lanning - RHB
The Megastar - the captain of probably the best cricket team in cricket history. Only cricketer to win 5 World Cups as a captain & unsurprisingly Meg is captaining Delhi Capitals too.
Apart from captaincy skills, she is a prolific top order batter who scores at an impressive average of over 36 in T20I. Her average goes huge batting in India where she has scored 522 runs with the average of 74.57 in 14 T20I Matches.
2. Marizanne Kapp - RHB, RAM
A well known All Rounder from South Africa. Bowls with new bowl and possess death over skills too. She is flexible with the bat and has batted from no. 3 to 6 in T20s. She will add experience & balance to Delhi Capitals team.
3. Alice Capsey - RHB, RAO
An emerging quality All Rounder from England. She bats in top order at a massive strike rate. She possess huge striking ability and can even be tried in middle/lower middle order. But, DC will need an all rounder performance from her both with the bat & bowl.
4. Laura Harris - RHB, RAO
Australian finisher known for clearing grounds at her ease. She has experience of 111 Matches in Women's Big Bash League where her strike rate is above 158. She can make big difference by her big hits in the lower middle order.
5. Jess Jonassen - LHB, LAO
Wicket taking left arm spin bowler from Australia. She bowls in middle and death overs. So, she will be great asset for Delhi Capitals. But, she hasn't been at her best in Indian conditions where she has picked just 4 wickets in 16 T20Is.
6. Tara Norris - LHB, LAM
Good Left Arm Pacer from USA. The only Associate Nation player to be sold in WPL Auction. She will add variety to DC pace attack but doesn't look making to the playing 11 keeping in mind the quality of overseas players they have.
7. Shafali Verma - RHB, RAO
Indian Opener known for her impressive strike rate. She recently won U19 World Cup & is more improved player now. However, her strike rotating ability is a concern. She is now bowling as well for the national team.
8. Jemimah Rodrigues - RHB
Jemimah is a gap finder & generally anchors the innings.
She was out of form but played a suberb innings in Semi Final of the World Cup. Will be interesting if she is given no. 3 spot or opens for the team.
9. Radha Yadav - RHB, LAO
Indian capped Left Arm Spinner. She is playing for India since long. She is not big turner of the ball but keeps her line wicket to wicket. Her mejority wickets are bowled & LBW.
10. Shikha Pandey - RHB, RAM
Naturally a new ball bowler, known for in-swingers. Recently made comeback to Indian team but didn't look in that great touch. But, she surely had great experience of playing in Indian conditions & will benefit the team.
11. Titas Sadhu - RAM
Emerging bowler from Bengal. Played U19 World Cup where she picked 6 wickets in as much matches. She hits the deck hard with decent pace. A player to watch out for DC in upcoming seasons.
12. Jasia Akter - RHB, RAM
Top order batter from Jammu & Kashmir. She possesses clean hitting abilities & represents India D in domestics. She is coming of good form from Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy, 2023 where she scored 114 runs in 4 matches. However, she might have to bat in lower middle order for DC.
13. Minnu Mani - LHB, RAO
A useful spin All Rounder from Kerala. She is usually a middle order batter with handy off pin with the bowl. The DC side will hope for a decent all round performance from Minnu.
14. Taniya Bhatia - RHB, WK
An experienced wicket keeper, has played 53 matches for India. She is a decent top order batter but might not get to bat in top order in this lineup.
15. Sneha Deepthi - RHB, RAO
An emerging good Top order batter. Bats at 3 for Andhra Pradesh in domestics. Generally anchors the innings with some good hits towards the end.
16. Poonam Yadav - Legbreak
A very slow & different leg break bowler. She beats batters with her slow pace & sharp turn. She has played 72 matches for Indian team picking 98 wickets. She is genuine wicket taking bowler but is not coming of a good form.
17. Arundhati Reddy - RHB, RAM
Experienced medium pace bowler, has been playing for Railways in domestics since long. She picked 3 Wickets in Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy, 2022-23 ina as much matches.
18. Aparna Mondol - RHB
She is an innings holding middle order batter. Represents Bengal in Domestics & is a long term investment from DC.
STRENGTH
Experienced spin attack
Delhi Capitals have assembled an experienced spin trio comprising of Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav & Jess Jonassen. Jess & Radha are similar kinds of bowlers both being left arm spinners & known for bowling wicket to wicket. However, Jess bowls in death overs unlike Radha. Poonam adds variety to this attack with her slow leg-breaks. However, Radha is very inconsistent with her line & length and might cause issues for the team. But, if these 3 manage to get their control right, opponents might find very difficult to score runs against them in middle & death overs.
Combination of Youth & Experience
The Capitals squad comprises of 3 huge overseas names - Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen & Marizanne Kapp, 4 players from current Indian team set up - Shafali, Jemimah, Shikha & Radha and a massive experienced leg spinner Poonam Yadav. These 8 have mammoth experience of playing T20 Matches at a big stage. Apart from these they have bagged in young stars like Alice Capsey, Jasia Akter, Arundhati Reddy, Sneha Deepthi & Minnu Mani who bring youth mindset to the team. This amalgam of youth & experience adds balance to this team.
The 'Megastar' Captain
Yes. You read it right. An individual can make a big difference. The captain - Meg Lanning, having won 5 World Cups & the gold medalist in Commonwealth Games, she is a big positive for the team. She has proved her as one of the best (or might be the best) captains in cricket history (Men or Women). Her calmness & presence of mind in crunch situations & her game reading skills are insane. This surely will be an advantage for DC over other 4 teams. However, it can't be ruled out that cricket is a team game & all the players need to perform to win a tournament.
WEAKNESS
Lack of Impact Pacers
DC's pace battery includes Kapp, Shikha, Arundhati & Titas Sadhu out of which Titas is just 18. Shikha made her comeback in the Indian team but didn't look in best touch. The onus, therefore, completely falls on Marizanne Kapp to carry their pace department and also contribute with the bat. Kapp is the only an impact pacer that DC can depend on. This is going to be a big concern for the team throughout the season.
Issue with the Batter's Strike Rate
The top 3 of Delhi's batting order should comprise of Shafali, Jemimah & Lanning. Jemimah is naturally an anchor who doesn't play big shots much. Shafali hits boundaries but her inability to rotate strike creates pressure on the team. Lanning generally possess both the abilities to rotate strike & hit big but since her comeback to the Australian team she hasn't looked at her ease. Shafali & Lanning both looked battling at low strike rates in this World Cup. Shafali's overall strike rate in this World Cup was 108.5 while that of Lanning was 113.7. These low starts from top order might create pressure on the middle & lower middle order of the team & can lead to big collapses.
Lack of All Rounders
Delhi Capitals have a decent batting order with heavy spin experience and decent pace attack. But, they lack an important species in Women's cricket - All Rounders.
Marizanne Kapp is the only proper All Rounder in the squad with occasionally bowling Alice Capsey & in-experienced Minnu Mani the others. The Capitals fall far behind the other teams who have assembled plenty of all rounders in their squad.
PROBABLE XI
Delhi Capitals is expected to go with Shafali Verma & Jemimah Rodrigues as openers siting their top order batting experience. However, we might see Alice Capsey opening for them in later half of the season. Captain Meg Lanning to bat at her favourite position no. 3 with Alice Capsey with her power hitting at 4. Marizanne Kapp to support Capsey with some hits at 5 & one Indian uncapped batter out of Sneha Deepthi & Minnu Mani at 6. Taniya Bhatia, the wicket keeper to come next with the 3 experienced spinners & Sikha Pandey as the pacer of the team.
Laura Harris might make a place in the 11 later if Capsey doesn't start well.
Shafali Verma
Jemimah Rodrigues
Meg Lanning✈️
Alice Capsey✈️
Marizanne Kapp✈️
Sneha Deepthi/Minnu Mani
Taniya Bhatia
Jess Jonassen ✈️
Poonam Yadav
Radha Yadav
Shikha Pandey
EXPECTATIONS
Delhi Capitals look a decent team with settled & experienced top order. Their middle order is not something one can be confident of against a good bowling side. They have 3 good & experienced international spinners on one side but lack depth in pace department on the flip side. They do have the best captain in the tournament but it is quite visible that they missed a trick in the auction by not investing much in all rounders.
Overall, they are a decent side but not as much composed as some of their opponents in the tournament. They, however, have players with potential who can be utilised as all rounders. If Capitals can bring out the best of Shafali, Capsey & Minnu, their all rounder laps can be healed.
Eventually, this would be a big shout out to them if they make it to the playoffs.