The Indian Premier League is becoming a life-changing event for many cricketers as time passes. Performing in IPL has become one of the primary objectives for international players. The action-packed tournament is known for its high performances and emotional dramas. It is not easy for the players to deal with their mental stability throughout the season. Imagine how it will be for the players to win the championship title at the end.
Delhi Daredevils (which is changed to Delhi Capitals in 2019) is the team that always comes with a different equation of players. The franchise has never failed in experimenting. They were the ones to come up with an idea of facing the tournament with the young batting line-up under Zaheer Khan’s captaincy in 2017. In 2020, the Shreyas Iyer-led team entered the finals for the first time, in which they ended up losing against Mumbai Indians.
Even though they had many match-winning players on the team, they couldn’t win the title. But the players from Delhi who got migrated to other groups have won the title for their respective franchises. Fun tips: Imagine that you are in IPL betting, and you can always back a team with an ex-Delhi player in their unit! Now a serious one: You can bet with Mr Play Promo Code to successfully kick-start your betting days!
Let’s look at 5 of those players who migrated from Delhi to win a championship in other teams.
David Warner
David Warner is the most successful overseas batsman in the IPL, scoring 4706 runs in 126 matches. Not an easy job for an overseas player to dominate spinners in Indian conditions. The Australian opener has won the Orange Cap three times, more than any other player. David Warner signed for Delhi Daredevils in 2009. The destructive opener scored 163 runs in 7 matches in his first season of IPL in 2009. The left-hander came up with a century against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010. In 2011, Warner scored 324 runs in 13 matches, including three half-centuries.
Later in 2012, he made a match-winning knock against Deccan Chargers, scoring 109 off 54 balls. In 2013, his graph got higher by scoring 410 runs in 16 matches. The reverend has made 1435 runs in 55 matches for Delhi Daredevils. He was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014 and made him the captain in 2015. SRH won the title in 2016 under his captainship. The iconic player is set to step in as captain for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2020.
Yuvraj Singh
Delhi Daredevils managed to snap up Yuvraj Singh in IPL 2015 for 16 crores, which was the highest bid ever at that time. It was not said to be the most remarkable year for Yuvraj as he only managed to make 248 runs in 14 innings. His performance in bowling started dripping from that season. The Indian all-rounder got sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad the following year, where he scored 236 runs in 10 matches and helped the team win the title.
The lefty got transferred to KXIP in 2018, and it became a disastrous year for him scoring just 64 runs in 7matches. Later in 2019, Yuvi played for Mumbai Indians, and he couldn’t keep up with the fans’ expectations. Yuvraj Singh announced his retirement and confirmed that he would no longer be a part of IPL.
Gautam Gambhir
Delhi Daredevils picked up Gautam Gambhir in the inaugural season of IPL. He became the second-highest run-scorer of that season by scoring 534 runs in 14 matches. He was chosen as the captain of Delhi Daredevils in 2010. Daredevils finished 5th in the league stage of IPL 2010. The Delhi-born left-hander has scored 1192 runs in 46 matches for the franchise. He became the costliest buy for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011 for a whopping amount of 11.04 crores. Gambhir led the team into the playoffs in his first season with the Kolkata franchise. In 2011 changed the entire structure of KKR. KKR went on to lift the championship title in 2012 under Gambhir’s captainship.
The left-hander was in the form of his life during that season, scoring 590 runs in 17 matches. Later, KKR grabbed the title again in 2014, where he showcased his leadership skills once again. Gambhir continued to be the skipper of KKR till 2017. Then he moved on to Delhi Daredevils back in 2018. In 2019, he stepped down from captaincy, considering his poor performance in the season.
Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan played for Delhi Daredevils in the first edition of the Indian Premier League. Dhawan started it pretty well by making 340 runs in 14 matches, including four half-centuries. He got traded to Mumbai Indians the following year. It didn’t mean to be his kind of franchise as he struggled to make runs for the two seasons he played for Mumbai Indians. He was able to score only 231 runs in 15 matches. Then he had two successful seasons in Deccan Chargers, with his run-scoring techniques improved under Kumar Sangakara’s leadership. He made 969 runs in 29 matches, and Sunrisers Hyderabad became an identity for Gabhar. He played in SRH for six seasons(2013-2018), and it was an excellent time for him throughout the six seasons, making 2518 runs in 85 matches. It helped him redefine himself in international cricket.
SRH became the champions in 2016, where Gabhar made a strong statement through his batting performance and his skipper David Warner. Shikhar was brought back by the Delhi franchise, which changed to Delhi Capitals in 2019. He again showed his unique skills in 2019 and scored 521 runs in 16 matches. Now he was eyeing for a high season ahead in 2020.
Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra played for five different IPL teams. He started his IPL career in Mumbai Indians. Then moved on to Delhi Daredevils. His bowling economy was better when he played for Delhi Daredevils. He took 25 wickets in 17 matches for Delhi daredevils. His issues in fitness and injuries affected his number of matches. He played for Pune Warriors in 2011 and 2012. Then the left-arm pacer was brought back by DD in 2013. It was not such a good season for Ashish. He managed to pick up only 11 wickets in 10 games.
In the 2014 IPL auction, Nehra was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings for two crores. He showed his skills to the fullest during 2015, where he was able to pick up 22 wickets in 16 games, which brought him the chance to represent the country again. Later in 2016, Nehra made to the squad of SRH, where he played a significant part in attaining the champions title for SRH. Nehra announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2017. Royal Challengers Bangalore appointed Ashish as the bowling coach for 2018 and 2019.
Conclusion
Delhi Daredevils has brought in massive impact for many superstars in their careers. The ex-Delhi players have been the match winners for other teams. Even though Delhi Franchise had the balanced team almost every season, they managed to be in the playoffs only 6 out of 14 times. Despite the not-so-pleasing results brought by Delhi, the fan base didn’t see any drip.
The team went through a significant change in the 2019 edition. Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting were brought in. Shreyas Iyer was made the captain, and then Rishabh Pant. With a balanced team, brave management, and a supporting fanbase, they made it to the knock-outs in 2020 and 2021. he even made it to the finals in 2021.
