Delhi Daredevils is one of the teams that went into the 2018 Indian Premier League auctions with an intention to get a captain from the auction pool. Almost every other team had their contestant for captaincy, but DD along with Kolkata Knight Riders were still looking for somebody to hold the reins of the team.
With the kind of squad that Delhi has for this year’s season, it would want to have some senior player who has experience of leading a side and can lead the team for a couple of years and can then settle in as the mentor of the team.
This will help the side because, in the couple of years that the senior player will lead the team, some young player of the team will be ready to lead the team in the future.
Keeping this role description in mind, Gautam Gambhir is the most obvious player to lead the Delhi side in IPL 2018. He has had a really successful tenure with Kolkata Knight Riders. In fact, he has been one of the most successful captains in the Indian Premier League. He led the Kolkata Knight Riders to two title victories and raised the team from a position when they were looking absolutely down and out. Moreover, he is 36 years old and comes with a huge amount of experience.
Therefore, he becomes the ideal option for Delhi Daredevils to have as their captain because he will be able to train and mentor young players like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to captain the team in the future.
Apart from that, Gambhir has been the part of Delhi Daredevils for a few years in the initial editions of the tournament. In fact, he has also captained the side before. It was after Delhi lost players like Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir that the Daredevils lost their charm and started failing miserably in the competition. With Gambhir coming back to the side, Delhi surely seems to have rejuvenated and with him as the leader, the side will be a strong force in the competition.
The second name that comes in line for the role of the captain of Delhi Daredevils is Glenn Maxwell. He is another player who has been around for quite a time now. Maxwell is known throughout the world for being a T20 specialist.
He has been a key player for Kings XI Punjab over the years and led the side in the 2017 edition, helping the team finish fifth in the IPL standings. Therefore, Delhi could really use him as the captain of the team. He plays in a lot of leagues all around the world and is, therefore, a lot more experienced. With such an experience of the T20 format, he can be a really successful captain for Delhi Daredevils.
If Delhi decides to name a young captain, they could go with players like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Although these players are not as much experienced as Maxwell and Gambhir, there was a reason why these two players were retained. So, Delhi could look forward to having a captain who can lead the team for a way longer period than players like Gambhir and Maxwell.
Conclusion
Delhi was not looking in an enviable condition, but now with Gambhir, Maxwell, Chris Morris and many other good players in the squad, they have a squad containing pretty good players.
However, out of the four names mentioned, the highest probable result is that Delhi will have Gambhir as their captain.