The GMR-group owned franchise did not to retain a single player heading into the IPL-7 auction. One man they went all out to get was Kevin Pietersen. The charismatic former England captain was simply devastating in his short stint with the Daredevils in 2012 and one of the chief reasons why the side managed to top the league standings that year.
The knee injury that sidelined Pietersen last year was a massive blow to the team and it reflected in their performance. The Daredevils have built their side around Pietersen and new coach Gary Kirsten's aim is to get them out of the rut as soon as possible. The Delhi team, though, has a big worry with skipper KP suffering from a presumed fractured finger, which he has been carrying around taped up since he arrived in the Capital.
When it comes to batting firepower, the side is well stocked with the likes of the in-form Ross Taylor of New Zealand and South Africa's Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy. The Daredevils have picked their side intelligently, banking on domestic as well as international experience.
The side spent Rs 12.5 crore on Dinesh Karthik, who has proved his immense utility to Mumbai Indians over the last couple of years, as has his Tamil Nadu teammate Murali Vijay. Bengal's Manoj Tiwary and Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Jharkhand's Saurabh Tiwary complete an impressive domestic lineup. But unlike previous years there is hardly any 'Delhi connect' to this side, with Milind Kumar being the sole representative from the Capital.
The spin bowling department is another area of concern for the Daredevils. Pietersen might have dubbed Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as his 'superstar' but he is still far short of being world class, while leg-spinner Rahul Sharma failed to live up to the promise that he showed with Pune Warriors in 2012. With pitches in the UAE expected to be low and slow much like they are in India, lack of slow bowling options might haunt the side.
In terms of pacers, the side is well stocked with the likes of T20 specialists Wayne Parnell and James Neesham and Indian players like Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Shukla.
Pietersen and Kirsten's first priority will be to get the side to gel as fast as possible because it's not an easy task to start from scratch especially in fast forward form of T20. Daredevils can ill-afford another slow start in IPL-7 because once you're downhill on a slope it's very hard to hit the brakes.
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