5 Players DC should release ahead of IPL 2021 season

Delhi Capitals (DC) reached the IPL final for the first time in the 13 years of the tournament. They have impressed everyone with the brand of cricket they’ve displayed this season. The leadership of Shreyas Iyer has evolved after working with World Cup-winning coach Ricky Ponting. 

However, the road to the final wasn’t an easy one for them. They lost four of their last five league stage matches. Their openers failed to perform for 10 straight matches, while the bowling also started faltering in the latter stages of the tournament. 

The management would have to make some tough calls after this edition of the league. It is essential that they cover all their weak bases to become a more formidable unit to deal with in the following years.

Here are five players DC should let go of for IPL 2021:

1. Ajinkya Rahane

Veteran Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been around in the league ever since its inception. He has scored 3931 runs in 139 innings at a strike-rate of 121.48 and an average of 31.96. He had represented Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and Rising Pune Supergiant before joining Delhi ahead of this edition of the Indian Premier League.

Rahane has had an extremely disappointing season this time around. He scored 111 runs in seven innings at a below-par strike-rate of 107.77. He was not backed by the management to start in the playing XI. However, Rishabh Pant’s injury meant he got a chance in the playing XI in the seventh match of the season. Apart from a good knock against RCB (60 off 46 balls), he flopped in all the remaining games. 

He has never been a T20 specialist throughout his career. However, he used to perform consistently at the top of the order every year. This time, he failed to even play the anchor role to perfection. With the Shikhar Dhawan-Marcus Stoinis partnership working out in Qualifier 2, Delhi could consider it as a viable long term option.