Delhi Daredevils can be labelled as the perennial underachievers in IPL’s history. As a club, they have failed to churn out consistency in their team formation, as well as their performances. Many times over the years, they have tried to rebuild their squad but to no avail. Daredevils have always lacked a proper leader in the squad, and have constantly changed captains over the years.

However, things looked to have changed for good before the auction earlier this year when a rumour linking Gautam Gambhir to a move back to Delhi started doing the rounds. The prodigal son was going to return to his hometown and was expected to lead them to the eternal glory that had eluded the club ever since the inception of the tournament. However, things have not turned out to be as good as it was presumed to be.

Currently, Delhi sits at the bottom of the table; not something new for them, but not something that is viable after such clever spending in the auctions. In Gautam Gambhir, the team finally had a proven leader, as his winning mentality would have helped the team fill up the void that had been missing from their squad from previous seasons.

Gambhir has been known to be quite vocal and proactive on the field and has shown a tendency to take quick, small and clever decisions on the field. His fielding placements have always been accurate, and his bowling changes turn out to be quite impressive regularly.

Gambhir is a bowler’s captain and handled bowlers like Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav quite effectively during his time in KKR. Hence, the recruitment of Gambhir was termed as a masterstroke as the team finally had a man who could pave the path for them now. With a good bowling lineup and a couple of impressive all-round players, Delhi has a good squad currently. So, what has led to Gambhir’s decision to step down as the captain this season?

DD have a problem of plenty of sorts. Hence, they seem to have a misbalanced playing XI right now. Underperforming players, withdrawal of Kagiso Rabada and now the stepping down of Gambhir; but was it necessary?

Gambhir the batsman hasn't been great this season

As stated above, Gambhir has loads of experience as the IPL captain and has even won two IPL titles before. His decision-making ability coupled with a strong mentality has helped him achieve much success in the past. Moreover, Gambhir is the only senior player in the current squad and has the man-management skills to handle each young player on the field.

Also, the history supports him in this case too. In 2014, Gambhir had a horrendous start to the campaign when he recorded three ducks in first four matches. After this minor blip, he upgraded his game and propelled KKR to IPL glory too. One of the major reasons why his resignation as the captain is surprising is the fact that Ricky Ponting coaches the team.

I can decipher many similarities in Gambhir and Ponting as cricketers. Both of them have been known to be fierce competitors, and hardly ever buckle down from difficult challenges. Hence, Gambhir’s decision comes up quite astonishing as Ponting seems to have had a certain influence in this too. It should not be ignored that Gambhir has been undergoing a poor run of form. He hasn’t played much competitive cricket in the past year or so and hence looks short of match-practice. However, with the abundance of talent and experience that he possesses, one must expect him to pick up his form soon.

On one hand where I am inclined towards Gambhir having continued as the captain; I am quite excited by the prospect of Shreyas Iyer taking over the mantle too. Over the past three/four years, Iyer has been an excellent, consistent run-scorer in the domestic circuit. He has also been a regular in India A squad and has even played some international matches as of now.

DD's new captain

Iyer hails from Mumbai Ranji team and the Mumbaikars have been known for their unparalleled winning mentality. Iyer, accordingly, has been moulded as that and hence his attitude towards the game must be on similar lines. Having seen him evolve from a swashbuckling youngster to a dependable middle-order batsman, it is safe to say that Iyer’s maturity has improved too.

He surely looks as someone who would not fear away from the extra pressure and would carry the batting lineup by taking more responsibility. However, there are certain doubts over how would he arrange and manage a fragile-looking bowling setup.

 Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem have flattered to deceive and only Rahul Tewatia has been somewhat consistent. Trent Boult has not been supported much by other bowlers and hence there are certain changes that could be implied in the current starting XI.

Jayant Yadav could get a chance as the off-spinner likes to maintain a tight bowling line and is quite economical too. He could whack some shots down the order too, but most importantly, he will help Delhi to choke the flow of runs from the opposition.