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Picture Credit: IPL/BCCI

Delhi Capitals have been one of the most impressive sides in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the last two seasons. Under the leadership of Ricky Ponting, the Delhi franchise have thrived and have taken some massive strides forward. After finishing as runners-up last season, DC were at top of the points table in IPL 2021 before the tournament got suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. While there is a lot of uncertainty if the 14th edition will resume or not, Delhi will have some major questions in terms of retention of players ahead of the next season.

Also Read: 5 players Mumbai Indians might retain ahead of IPL 2022 mega auction

With two new franchises, there will be a mega-auction before IPL 2022. While DC would love to retain most of their players since they have been doing quite well, they might not be able to do so because of the tournament restrictions. Although the guidelines have not yet been laid out, it is expected that each franchise might be allowed to retain only three capped players. The rules regarding RTM are still not clear but there is a possibility that the teams might be allowed to retain two uncapped players as well. Considering this 3+2 rule as of now, who could be the five picks for Delhi Capitals going into the 2022 season of IPL? Let us have a look.

1. Rishabh Pant

The DC captain for IPL 2021 is going to be the Number 1 pick by the franchise without a doubt. Since joining Delhi in 2016, the southpaw has taken the tournament by storm and has scored 2292 runs in 76 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 149.80. Rishabh Pant also impressed everyone with his leadership skills this season and with his game-changing abilities, the 23-year-old is certainly going to be retained by the Capitals.

2. Prithvi Shaw

 

The 21-year-old is one of the most explosive openers in the country and has a unique talent of going after the bowlers from the first delivery. While he has often come under criticism for his inconsistency, there is no doubt that he has matured as a cricketer in the last few years. Shaw was having an absolutely wonderful IPL 2021 as he had already smashed 308 runs in 8 matches at a scintillating strike rate of 166.48. Delhi would certainly don't want to lose the services of such an exciting cricketer who has his golden days ahead of him.

3. Shreyas Iyer

While they might look to retain IPL 2021 orange-cap holder in the form of experienced Shikhar Dhawan, it is likely that Delhi might opt for a much younger option in the form of Shreyas Iyer. The 26-year-old played a key role in DC's resurgence since taking over the captaincy from Gautam Gambhir. Although he missed the IPL 2021 due to an injury, one cannot ignore his scintillating numbers (2200 runs in 79 matches) for the franchise since joining them in 2015.

4. Avesh Khan

Talking about uncapped players, Avesh Khan is going to be at the top of the list for Delhi Capitals. The fast bowler displayed his talent in this season of IPL, taking 14 wickets in only 8 matches. Avesh impressed everyone with his ability to bowl yorkers at death and took some crucial wickets for his side during the campaign. He conceded runs at a fantastic economy of only 7.70, despite being asked to bowl some tough overs.

5. Lalit Yadav

Another uncapped player who caught everyone's eyes in IPL 2021 was Lalit Yadav. The 24-year-old was proving to be a really handy utility player for Delhi Capitals this season and was contributing with both bat and ball. While he guided DC to a crucial win against MI with an unbeaten 22-run knock, he produced an outstanding spell of 2/13 against KKR. If given an opportunity, DC would certainly want to retain the services of Lalit ahead of mega-auction.

While Delhi Capitals will have some megastars to chose from like Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin and many more, it will be really interesting to see who their top three picks will be from the pool of capped players. On the other hand, they will also have few options in the list of uncapped players like Pravin Dubey, Lukman Meriwala, Vishnu Vinod, M Siddharth and Ripal Patel.