Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The team is captained by Axar Patel, and is coached by Hemang Badani. They appeared in their first IPL final in 2020 against Mumbai Indians.
Franchise history
The IPL is a cricket league organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and backed by the International Cricket Council. The inaugural tournament was held in April–June 2008, in which the BCCI finalised a list of eight teams that participated in the tournament. The teams represented eight different cities in India, including Delhi. The teams were put up for auction in Mumbai on 20 February 2008, and the Delhi team was bought by the property development company GMR Group for US$84 million.In March 2018, GMR sold a 50% stake in the Delhi Daredevils to JSW Sports for.
JSW Sports is also the owner of Hockey India League team Soorma Hockey Club, Pro Kabaddi League team Haryana Steelers, Indian Super League team Bengaluru FC, SA20 team Pretoria Capitals, and ILT20 team Dubai Capitals.
In December 2018, the team changed its name from the Delhi Daredevils to the Delhi Capitals. Speaking about the rationale behind changing the team's name, co-owner and chairman Parth Jindal said, "Delhi is the power centre of the country, it is the capital, therefore the name Delhi Capitals." Co-owner Kiran Kumar Grandhi said, "The new name symbolizes Delhi's identity and just like the city, we are aiming to be the centre of all action going forward."
Subject to ratification by the England and Wales Cricket Board, in 2024 the franchise agreed a £120 million deal to buy Hampshire County Cricket Club in England, as well as a 51% stake in the Hundred team Southern Brave.
Seasons history
2008 IPL
During the inaugural edition of the IPL, the Delhi Daredevils won their initial two matches against the Rajasthan Royals and the Deccan Chargers. Then, after losing a match to the Kings XI Punjab, the team won their next two matches against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Chennai Super Kings.However, the Delhi Daredevils lost in four straight matches, breaking the streak with a win against the Deccan Chargers. After another loss against the Kings XI Punjab, they recovered and won three matches to finish in the final four of the league.
The Delhi Daredevils lost to eventual champions, the Rajasthan Royals, in the semi-final.
2009 IPL
The Daredevils dominated for much of the 2009 IPL season under the captaincy of former Indian opener and Delhi-native, Gautam Gambhir, finishing at the top of the table. The likes of former Indian opener and triple-Centurion Virender Sehwag and Gambhir had both developed since the prior season. They set up many large totals for the Daredevils, with South African power hitter and part-time keeper AB de Villiers hitting one of only two centuries in the 2009 IPL at a match in South Africa. The bowling team, which was composed mainly of New Zealander spin pro Daniel Vettori, India senior spinner Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, and former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra, was bolstered by the off-season signing of Australian Dirk Nannes, which created a strong bowling line-up. The batting of the Daredevils featured Sehwag, Gambhir, power hitter Dilshan, AB de Villiers, and Manoj Tiwary. The Daredevils consisted of new and then uncapped players like Australia Captain Aaron Finch and Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who went on to become successful in various T20 circuits.However, despite finishing at the top of the points table during the regular season, the Daredevils crumbled in the semi-final after Deccan Chargers' captain Adam Gilchrist hit the then fastest 50 in the IPL history. Nannes in particular, who was again picked over Aussie pacer Glenn McGrath, was punished by Gilchrist, and later by Aussie opening all-rounder Andrew Symonds. The semi-final loss meant Delhi did not contest the final of the 2009 IPL season, despite having the best record in the league stages. However, Delhi managed to qualify for the now-defunct 2009 Champions League Twenty20 as a result of their performance in the group stage.
2012 IPL
Due to the disbanding of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala, each team played the remaining eight teams twice, once at home and once away. Therefore, each team played an extended season of 16 matches.In the 2012 IPL season, a new side of the Delhi Daredevils was seen after a poor 2011 season where they finished last. They came back strongly, having purchased players such as Afro-English batting great Kevin Pietersen, Sri Lanka batter Mahela Jayawardene, and Kiwi batter Ross Taylor. They stood first in the Pool Table with the Kolkata Knight Riders at second place, the Mumbai Indians coming third, and the defending champions the Chennai Super Kings securing the fourth spot, consequently also qualifying for the Champions League Twenty20 in 2012 held in South Africa.
Australian pace bowler Glenn McGrath expressed disappointment over not being picked to play any match during the whole season, and stopped playing for Delhi.
Former Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardane was appointed as the new captain of the Delhi Daredevils after Indian opener Virender Sehwag stepped down from captaincy during the 2012 season of the Champions League Twenty20.
2013 IPL
Delhi Daredevils lost their first six matches of IPL 2013 and won their first match in their seventh game against the Mumbai Indians. Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene's partnership led to a win against the Mumbai Indians, in which they scored 161 runs. Sehwag was the "Man of the Match" for his innings of 95* off 57 balls. After this match, they faced the Kings XI Punjab and lost again. But in their ninth match of the season against the Pune Warriors India, they won, putting them in eighth place in the points table. They defeated defending champions the Kolkata Knight Riders in their tenth match by seven wickets but failed to advance to the seventh place due to their net run-rate. In their next match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Delhi Daredevils were bowled out for just 80 runs, giving the Sunrisers a win. In their match against the Rajasthan Royals, they scored 154 runs, thanks to recruit Ben Rohrer's half-century. However, that effort was in vain as the Rajasthan Royals chased the total down with the loss of only one wicket. This loss for the Daredevils officially eliminated them from the 2013 season.In their next match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi managed to contain the Royal Challengers who were 106 in 16.0 overs, but Bangalore scored 77 in their last 4 overs and reached a total of 183, thanks to a 99 by RCB skipper Virat Kohli. The Daredevils lost the match by just four runs. The team next played the Chennai Super Kings who batted first and posted 168 runs. Delhi failed to gain momentum throughout the match and eventually lost by 33 runs. The following match was against the Kings XI Punjab who defeated them again, this time by seven runs, as they failed to chase down 172 runs. Their final game was against the Pune Warriors India. Delhi bowled first and the Pune Warriors posted a total of 171 runs. In the second innings, Delhi maintained the required run rate but began losing quick wickets after the tenth over. They could not chase the target and lost by 38 runs finishing last in the league table. Despite seeing a forgettable season, a few big names were added to the support staff as the season progressed. The legendary West Indies batter Sir Vivian Richards was named as their new brand ambassador, former England spinner Jeremy Snape was added to the support staff, and renowned former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was named as their new spin bowling coach.
2014 IPL
Ahead of the IPL 2014 auction, on 10 January 2014, the Delhi Daredevils announced that they would not retain any players from their current squad for season seven. With no players retained, the team had the most "right-to-match" cards among all the franchises at the auction—three. They also had Rs 600 million to spend at the auction.The Delhi Daredevils experienced another poor season in 2014. They lost their first match, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, however, they won their next match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. This was followed by a loss against the two-time champions the Chennai Super Kings and a close match which resulted in a loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Delhi Daredevils won their next match against the Mumbai Indians, having restricted them to 125. Later, when the tournament shifted from the makeshift venue in the United Arab Emirates to India, Delhi lost their next nine matches. The Delhi Daredevils won only two out of their fourteen matches, both of which took place in the adopted venue in the UAE. Despite their poor performance, South Africa all-rounder JP Duminy, the team captain scored 410 runs from 14 matches at an average of 51.25 and was the tournament's eighth highest run-scorer. The Delhi Daredevils once again finished last.