Delhi Capitals have for a long time been an underperforming team in the IPL. Back then, they were called the Delhi Daredevils. After they rebranded to the Delhi Capitals in the year 2018, they changed the way they played their cricket. The addition of the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the previous two seasons saw them go from a very mid-franchise to a very exciting one. The following years saw some success with DC making the IPL Final in 2021.
Now, ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, DC went into yet another huge change. After letting go of Rishabh Pant who had been the cornerstone of the team for 7-8 years, they had the task of replacing him and making a team around their core of 4 players that they retained. It would be fair to say that they have done exactly that and more. But also missed out on some spots. So let’s do a SWOT Analysis of the DC Squad for the 2025 IPL season.
DC SWOT Analysis: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat
Strength: Spin Is King For DC
Many questioned DC’s retentions when they first came out. But people might just be looking at it wrong. But still they managed to hold onto their spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. And looking at how the Auction panned out, the spin kings at DC might end up as being the best spin partnership in the IPL.
Axar Patel’s low-risk economic bowling ability complements Kuldeep Yadav’s high-risk wicket-taking capabilities like Bread and Butter. It’s the perfect combination of a finger spinner and a left-arm leggie. Expect both these spin masterminds to be a problem for batters in the middle overs.
Weakness: DC’s Middle Order Batting Reeks Of Mediocrity
With huge bucks spent on other areas of their team, DC failed to capitalise on someone to fill the huge void left by Rishabh Pant in that middle order. While KL Rahul and Jake Fraser-McGurk are almost guaranteed to open the batting for the Delhi outfit, there’s no one except Tristan Stubbs who instills confidence.
A lot of uncapped players at their disposal but none of them are quite that special. Karun Nair will be given a big role. Ashutosh Sharma will be given a huge job of helping Tristan Stubbs in finishing the innings. But with such a huge weakness DC are sure to fail.
Oppurtunity: Pace Threat Especially In The Death For DC
They might’ve undercompensated in the batting department but they sure have a lot of backup in the pace department. Arguably rivalling MI for the best pacers in the 2025 IPL. DC have acquired the services Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, and Mohit Sharma.
With such quality in their bowling attack, their death overs are safe and secured for sure. These 4 bowlers together have each and every trick in their books to get the Batsmen out.
Threat: Inexperience Continues To Be The Kryptonite For DC
Overall, apart from their bowling, DC suffers from massive inexperience and lack of good backups in case one of their starting players get injured during the three month long IPL season. Jake Fraser-McGurk, while a vital buy, has been quite in the shadows since the last IPL. KL Rahul has not been in good form in the shortest format of the game. Even Harry Brooks has only one good knock in the IPL.
Their Middle order is already weak. Even Abhishek Porel who has been good in only one season of the IPL doesn’t seem to be THAT guy. Karun Nair too has not played quality opposition in a long time. Sameer Rizvi another new buy doesn’t have loads of experience.
Probable Starting XI
- KL Rahul
- Jake Fraser-McGurk
- Abhishek Porel
- Harry Brooks
- Tristan Stubbs
- Sameer Rizvi
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Mitchell Starc
- Mukesh Kumar
- T Natarajan
Impact Players: Mohit Sharma, Ashutosh Sharma
Do you think DC had a successful auction? Will they win the IPL this time around finally? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
