Delhi Capitals (DC) are one of the 3 teams who have been part of the IPL since it’s inception in 2008 but are yet to win the tournament.

DC, previously Delhi Daredevils, have been a team which has had numerous star players of the game like AB De Villiers, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh over the past 12 seasons of the IPL.

In recent years, the franchise have recruited smartly focusing on building a strong core of Indian players. The side lead by a young Shreyas Iyer has shown improvement from previous years with strong performances from Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw.

Photo Credit: Hindustan Times

This year they have bolstered their ranks by adding two veterans in Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin who have ample of experience playing at the highest level. DC has almost 6-7 players who are consistently part of team India and provide for a strong base for the team to build on.

On the overseas front, DC have some exceptional talents like Marcus Stoinis and Keemo Paul who can make valuable contributions with the bat & ball. They provide the perfect balance to the team which also has Kagiso Rabada who is one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket right now.

The pitches in the UAE are expected to be slow & spinner friendly which puts DC in a strong position with the kind of spinners they have. R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra & Sandeep Lamichhane from Nepal make up one of the best spin attacks in the whole tournament.

Under the guidance of Ricky Ponting, DC has a coach who knows how to win big tournaments. They have a perfect balance of Indian players and overseas superstars this year which makes them one of the favourites for this years edition.

If everything goes according to the plan and DC can build on the performances of last season, they can make the playoffs and potentially go on to win their maiden IPL trophy.

My prediction: Champions