The New Identity
On a chilly 4th of December in 2018, the identity of Delhi’s franchise in the VIVO IPL was rechristened. From Delhi Daredevils, we changed our name to Delhi Capitals, alongwith a new brand identity colours and a roaring logo imbibing 3 tigers. The idea behind the change was to give the brand a refresh and an identity to which the people of Delhi could resonate to.
The Challenge
A new identity meant a whole new challenge. From fan support to creating a strong team was the need of the hour for our season. With a positive outlook, we introduced ourselves as "This Is New Delhi". A line that would go on to become synonymous to our performance this season. We invested in quality players in the auction, roping in the experienced Shikhar and Ishant Sharma alongwith 2 promising Caribbean players and a bunch of young fresh blood from the Indian circuit. We were now ready for our final preps for the season.
The Dream Support Staff
The addition of Kaif had already proven successful with our auction picks. With Ricky Ponting at the helm, we added the icon of Indian Cricket, Sourav Ganguly as an Advisor to the team, who brought in his wealth of experience to the franchise and was hailed by the media as an incredible backroom addition. The dream support staff was now ready to weave its magic and place Delhi Capitals amongst the top teams in VIVO IPL.
The Start
Our IPL season began exactly how it ended last year. A win over Mumbai in a convincing fashion to signal our arrival. Our first home game, at #QilaKotla was a low scoring loss over the former Champions CSK and it only drove us to produce a thriller of a game against the Knights later. A Super Over where Kagiso Rabada unleashed his brilliance to give us a huge win. Two back to back losses followed but didn't dampen our spirits as we beat RCB convincingly in Bengaluru as Skipper Shreyas led from the front on yet another occasion. What followed next was the beginning of our rise to the top...
The Wins That Changed The Story
... We went on an incredible run of 3 Away Wins in a Row including defeats handed to RCB, SRH and a royal victory against Rajasthan. The wins not only showed our resilience in crunch situations but also showed how the team was ready to fightback from any stage of the game. The run also meant we continued our winning form at home too and never lost a home game for the rest of the season. A win against Bangalore at home brought cheer to a million faces in Delhi as Delhi Capitals qualified for the Playoffs for the first time in 7 years. The script was written. The performances etched ineffable memories in everyone's minds. But the journey had just begun.
Goodbye Kagiso
With 25 wickets in 12 matches, Kagiso was like our dream weaver who guided us to big wins in big matches. A stiffness in his back meant he had to return to South Africa as a precautionary measure taken from CSA ahead of the World Cup. We bid him goodbye and were ready to give our all as the Playoffs awaited us.
The Playoffs
Facing Hyderabad in Vizag meant playing against them in virtually their second home. The Orange Army was hungry to conquer the Eliminator but so were we. Chasing 163 to land a place in Qualifier 2, our young guns, Shaw and Rishabh were calm, composed and played with immense maturity to take us home. Our fairytale journey in the Playoffs came to an end with a loss against CSK in Qualifier 2, after Watson and du Plessis comfortably chased the 147 runs we added in the 1st innings.
Bowing out, with pride!
The journey was over. The belief wasn't. A season that started with a new identity to the franchise ended with the team getting a new identity amongst all IPL teams. From topping the table to winning big away games to our young team showing maturity in pressure situations is nothing but a beginning of what promises to be a resurgence of Delhi in the forthcoming IPL seasons.
The New Identity
On a chilly 4th of December in 2018, the identity of Delhi’s franchise in the VIVO IPL was rechristened. From Delhi Daredevils, we changed our name to Delhi Capitals, alongwith a new brand identity colours and a roaring logo imbibing 3 tigers. The idea behind the change was to give the brand a refresh and an identity to which the people of Delhi could resonate to.
The Challenge
A new identity meant a whole new challenge. From fan support to creating a strong team was the need of the hour for our season. With a positive outlook, we introduced ourselves as "This Is New Delhi". A line that would go on to become synonymous to our performance this season. We invested in quality players in the auction, roping in the experienced Shikhar and Ishant Sharma alongwith 2 promising Caribbean players and a bunch of young fresh blood from the Indian circuit. We were now ready for our final preps for the season.
The Dream Support Staff
The addition of Kaif had already proven successful with our auction picks. With Ricky Ponting at the helm, we added the icon of Indian Cricket, Sourav Ganguly as an Advisor to the team, who brought in his wealth of experience to the franchise and was hailed by the media as an incredible backroom addition. The dream support staff was now ready to weave its magic and place Delhi Capitals amongst the top teams in VIVO IPL.
The Start
Our IPL season began exactly how it ended last year. A win over Mumbai in a convincing fashion to signal our arrival. Our first home game, at #QilaKotla was a low scoring loss over the former Champions CSK and it only drove us to produce a thriller of a game against the Knights later. A Super Over where Kagiso Rabada unleashed his brilliance to give us a huge win. Two back to back losses followed but didn't dampen our spirits as we beat RCB convincingly in Bengaluru as Skipper Shreyas led from the front on yet another occasion. What followed next was the beginning of our rise to the top...
The Wins That Changed The Story
... We went on an incredible run of 3 Away Wins in a Row including defeats handed to RCB, SRH and a royal victory against Rajasthan. The wins not only showed our resilience in crunch situations but also showed how the team was ready to fightback from any stage of the game. The run also meant we continued our winning form at home too and never lost a home game for the rest of the season. A win against Bangalore at home brought cheer to a million faces in Delhi as Delhi Capitals qualified for the Playoffs for the first time in 7 years. The script was written. The performances etched ineffable memories in everyone's minds. But the journey had just begun.
Goodbye Kagiso
With 25 wickets in 12 matches, Kagiso was like our dream weaver who guided us to big wins in big matches. A stiffness in his back meant he had to return to South Africa as a precautionary measure taken from CSA ahead of the World Cup. We bid him goodbye and were ready to give our all as the Playoffs awaited us.
The Playoffs
Facing Hyderabad in Vizag meant playing against them in virtually their second home. The Orange Army was hungry to conquer the Eliminator but so were we. Chasing 163 to land a place in Qualifier 2, our young guns, Shaw and Rishabh were calm, composed and played with immense maturity to take us home. Our fairytale journey in the Playoffs came to an end with a loss against CSK in Qualifier 2, after Watson and du Plessis comfortably chased the 147 runs we added in the 1st innings.
Bowing out, with pride!
The journey was over. The belief wasn't. A season that started with a new identity to the franchise ended with the team getting a new identity amongst all IPL teams. From topping the table to winning big away games to our young team showing maturity in pressure situations is nothing but a beginning of what promises to be a resurgence of Delhi in the forthcoming IPL seasons.
