It wasn’t a surprise, at least for me, that Delhi Capitals managed to make it to the playoffs this season. They were among the strongest team on paper, even after Shreyas Iyer got injured. Furthermore DC were among the team that had a really strong Indian core with Indian team regulars like Shikhar Dhawan, Rishab Pant and Ashwin making up the eleven.

Batting Core

Unlike most other teams that had a reliable foreign batsman in their line up, DC’s core batting line up was made up of Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishab Pant (with Shreyas Iyer available in the second leg). Most importantly the batting line didn’t collapse on many occassion, managing to lose four or less wickets on 8 occasions and there were only two matches where they lose more than two wickets in the powerplay.

Furthermore the performance by Prithvi Shaw on the top of the order played a significant role in DC’s success. Acting as their firepower on the top, while also taking on the spinners instead of Dhawan thus allowing the latter to play a long innings. It is noticeable in the below graph that Dhawan’s strike rate drop significantly against spin, thus having Prithvi Shaw on the other end certainly helps to keep the scorecard moving.

Bowling Unit

IPL being conducted in two parts came as a blessing in disguise for DC, with Nortje getting more games and strengthening the bowling line up further. Interestingly enough the two experienced bowlers, Rabada and Ashwin, didn’t lead the bowling line up, instead the younger players like Avesh Khan and Nortje led the team.

The impact Nortje had for DC in the second half of the IPL is undeniable as he picked up 12 wickets with an economy of 6.16, compared to 8.39 in the previous edition. Furthermore he had an economy of mere 6.27 in the death overs, forcing the batsmen to take risk while others were bowling, leading the Avesh Khan picking up 6 wickets in the death overs (in UAE Leg).

Conclusion

It surprised no one that DC made it into the playoffs of IPL 2021 as they were certainly among the favorites going in the tournament. With their batting lineup performing exceptionally, along with bowlers like Avesh Khan and Nortje rising up to the occasion certainly made the qualification guranateed. Furthermore, with Shreyas Iyer joining the squad midway through the season, made the first captaincy gig for Rishab Pant a smooth ride.

Notes

• The data has been collected from kaggle and are approximated.
• Plotly has been used to generate the plots used in this blogpost.
• Play off matches have been ignored to have a fair comparison amongst teams, with equal matches played.