Delhi capitals
Delhi capitals: competitions
Delhi capitals: Twenty20 Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Delhi capitals: Current Squad
Ishant Sharma
Bowler
Mustafizur Rahman
Bowler
Delhi capitals: the most popular Indian cricket team
This team was one of the leaders in the early years of the Indian Premier League. Then the Delhi Capitals lost ground. In recent seasons, the club from Delhi has been among the winners again. Australian Ricky Ponting is the head coach of the club. He is considered one of the most successful captains in the world. The teams won almost 68% of the matches with his participation.
Delhi Capitals: history of creation and first results
The Delhi Capitals are co-owned by GMR Group and JSW Group. Initially, all rights belonged to GMR Group, which in February 2008 bought the license for $ 84 million. Over the ten years, the club’s financial balance has noticeably strengthened. In 2018, GMR Group sold 50% of the shares to JSW Group. The company had to pay $ 77 million. Previously, the club was called the Delhi Daredevils. After that, the name was changed to the Delhi Capitals. According to the general opinion of the owners of the shares, the new name of the team symbolizes the desire of Delhi to emphasize its special status in India. Since 1947, Delhi is home to more than 9.8 million people, and it has been the capital of India.
In the first two years of the existence of the Indian Premier League, the Delhi Daredevils reached the playoff. In 2008, Dark Blue (the team’s nickname) mainly showed results in series: two wins, a loss, two wins, three losses, four wins. These indicators allowed the club to break into the playoff from the fourth place. At that time, there was still a different, more familiar format: the winner of the group stage met with the fourth team at the end of the regular season. The Delhi Daredevils lost without a chance to the Rajasthan Royals. There was no match for the third place, so the capital club was automatically out of the podium. By the way, the Rajasthan Royals became champions of the debut tournament.
In the 2009 season, the team made its fans very happy during the group stage. Dark Blue was strong through team interactions. Before the tournament, they signed a contract with the famous player Dirk Nanne. In 2008, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir appeared in the Indian Premier League, later they became the leaders of the team. As a result, the Delhi Daredevils finished first in the standings. However, in the semi-finals, the favorite of the competition unexpectedly faced fierce resistance from the Deccan Chargers. The opponent turned out to be better thanks to the individual actions of their leaders. The game ended with a difference of six wickets in favor of the future champion. However, Dark Blue received an invitation to compete in the Twenty20 Champions League.
Delhi Capitals: home stadium
The team’s base is Arun Jaitley Stadium. This is a very old sports complex that was built at the end of the 19th century. This is the second oldest stadium in India after the Eden Gardens, which is located in Kolkata. Arun Jaitley Stadium is one of the favorite stadiums of the Indian cricket team, where it has not lost a match in 30 years. Now the arena bears the name of the former Minister of Finance and President of the Delhi & District Cricket Association. Recently, the stadium underwent another reconstruction, the capacity of the stands increased to 41,820 seats.
Delhi Capitals’ backup stadium is Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, which is located in Raipur. It is noteworthy that its stands can accommodate 65,000 spectators.
Delhi Capitals: performance history
In 13 seasons in the Indian Premier League, Dark Blue has made the playoffs five times. In the other eight cases, the team ranked from fifth to tenth.
Delhi Capitals had their most successful season in 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament was held in Dubai, so all clubs were on an equal footing. At first, the team from the capital of India performed at a high level. In the first nine matches, Dark Blue lost only twice. However, at the finish of the group stage, the team noticeably slowed down and missed the first line in the standings. According to the format of the Indian Premier League, the Delhi Capitals had to play against the leader of the Mumbai Indians at the start of the playoff. As a result, the metropolitan club suffered a crushing defeat, having run 57 runs less. Nevertheless, the team got together and three days later beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad for reaching the final (with a difference of 17 runs).In the final, the best teams of the regular season met again. This time, a fierce struggle was going on throughout the match. In the decisive moments, the Mumbai Indians looked better, defeating their opponent with a difference of five wickets. Note that during the entire tournament Dark Blue never managed to beat the future champion.
In 2012, the Delhi Capitals managed to win bronze medals for the second time in history. This season began hard for the team, as a year ago it finished last in the championship. In the offseason, Dark Blue tried to seriously strengthen the lineup. One of the best acquisitions can be considered batsman Mahala Jayawardene. We also note the arrival of Kevin Pietersen to the club. At the end of the regular season, the Delhi Capitals finished first. However, the team did not perform in the best way in the playoff. First, the capital club lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders, and then suffered a crushing defeat to the Chennai Super Kings.
Once again, the Delhi Capitals rose to the podium of the Indian Premier League in the 2019 season. At the end of the regular season, the team was in the third place. In the first qualifying match, the capital club beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad (with a difference of two wickets). For reaching the final, Dark Blue lost to the Chennai Super Kings. The opponent passed the Delhi team by six wickets.
Delhi Capitals: interesting facts
The Delhi team is one of the most volatile in the Indian Premier League in terms of sponsorship. So, in 2019, the Delhi Capitals has only one former partner – the equipment manufacturer SqadGear. The rest have changed:
- JSW Group began to be responsible for the form on the chest, EbixCash began to be responsible for the back. Chest Branding turned out to be APL Apollo Steel Tubes.
One of the best Delhi Capitals players is Virender Sehwag. He was the team captain for the first two seasons. Then Sehwag played this important role for several more seasons.
