Picture Credit: CA
The 15th edition of India's biggest cricketing festival is around with corner with schedule announcement remaining the only formality from the BCCI. The IPL 2022 Mega Auction was successfully completed on 12 and 13 February. All ten franchises returned home with more than 20 players at least in their squad.
The fiercest bidders at the mega auction were Delhi Capitals. Their team management showed interest in almost every player and got some really good deals. Getting Ajinkya Rahane for only 1 crore and David Warner for 6.25 crore was two of the biggest steals of this year's mega auction for Delhi Capitals. Now having formed a good 23-member squad for the whole season, the franchise is busy strengthening the management.
According to reports coming in, the Delhi-based franchise has roped in two assistant coaches in the last two days. First, it was India's all-rounder Ajit Agarkar and now it is being reported that Australia's Shane Watson will also be joining the DC squad as an assistant coach. The former Australian all-rounder is a recommendation of head coach Ricky Ponting and signing formalities only remain as of now.
Watson has plenty of experience playing in the Indian Premier League. The Aussie all-rounder has played for 13 seasons with 2020 being his last stint. He has also won two titles with Rajasthan Royals (2008) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He has 3874 runs and 92 wickets in IPL.
Praveen Amre and James Hope to continue with respective roles
Notably, Shane Watson and Ajit Agarkar will be replacing Mohammad Kaif and Ajay Ratra, the assistant coaches from last season. Meanwhile, the franchise has decided to persist with Praveen Amre who has been a long-standing member of the support staff. The bowling coach James Hope will also be retaining his position in the management.
DC will see Rishabh Pant once again leading the franchise while Ricky Ponting will continue to remain the head coach. The team management tried its best to get back most of its players but could not. However, they have managed to bring back Delhi Capitals' old star, David Warner.
DC IPL 2022 Squad: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Abhishek Sharma, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan.