IPL 2021: Opening Pairs Of Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals were just one step away from tasting the victory in IPL 2020 as they lost the final match to Mumbai Indians. The franchisee showed a great performance in the last edition, finishing at the 2nd spot in the points table with 16 points. In IPL 2021 auction, Delhi Capitals made 8 additions to the team.

The franchisee bought Tom Curran for Rs. 5.25 crore. Steve Smith was another crucial pick for Delhi Capitals after the latter bought the Australia cricketer for Rs. 2.2 crore. Delhi Capitals also purchased wicket-keeper Sam Billings for Rs. 2 crores and pacer Umesh Yadav for Rs. 1 crore.

The Shreyas Iyer-led team also bought all-rounder Ripal Patel, wicket-keeper Vishnu Vinod, bowlers Lukman Meriwala and M Siddharth for Rs. 2 lakh each. With these new additions to the squad, Delhi Capitals is all set to kickstart their IPL 2021 journey. Last time, Delhi Capitals changed the openers slot in the playoffs after Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw’s combination failed to go big. Here we will look at the best opening pair of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021.

IPL 2021: Opening Pairs Of Delhi Capitals- Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan

After Prithvi Shaw continuously failed to score big in IPL 2020, Delhi Capitals replaced him with Marcus Stoinis as the new opener in playoff games. Stonis and Dhawan’s combination proved beneficial in the Qualifier II match, as both scored an opening partnership of 86 runs. Australia cricketer Marcus Stonis was far better than Prithvi Shaw in IPL 2020. Stoinis scored 352 runs in 17 games while Prithvi Shaw scored 228 runs in 13 games.

Stonis accounted for three half-centuries, one more than Prithvi Shaw who hit two fifties in the tournament. Stonis also had a better batting strike rate than Prithvi Shaw. While the Australian all-rounder Stonis batted at a strike rate of 148+, Shaw had a strike rate of 136+.

Talking about the overall stats in IPL tournaments, Marcus Stoinis has played 17 innings while Prithvi Shaw has played 38 innings. In 17 innings, Stonis has scored 352 runs at an average of 25.14. On the other hand, Shaw has scored 826 runs at an average of 21.73. Marcus Stoinis has a strike rate of 148+ while Prithvi Shaw has a strike rate of 139+.

Shaw accounts for 4 fifties in 38 games while Stonis accounts for 1 half-century in 17 games. But Stonis has mostly batted at lower-middle order position for Delhi Capitals, which gives him fewer balls to play as compared to opener Prithvi Shaw. Hence stats are in the favour of Marcus Stoinis, who will be a superb partner for Shikhar Dhawan as an opener.

Talking about Shikhar Dhawan, the left-handed batsman was the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2020 after KL Rahul. Dhawan smashed 618 runs at an average of 44.14. He had an amazing strike rate of 144+ throughout the season. He hit two centuries in IPL 2020, the most by any batsman in the tournament. Dhawan also scored 4 half-centuries for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020. Dhawan hit 67 fours in IPL 2020, the most by any batsman in the tournament.

Overall, Shikhar Dhawan has played 47 matches for Delhi Capitals. in 47 innings, Dhawan has scored 1479 runs at an average of 38.92. He has also hit 13 fifties and 2 hundred for the team. Shikhar Dhawan’s brilliant stats while batting proves he is the best choice for an opener for Delhi Capitals. Delhi Capitals should allow Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan’s combination as the opening pair in IPL 2021, which will yield far great results than the past scenario.

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