The Devil's Advocate

After a painful defeat to Rajasthan in the first IPL semi, I considered giving up my residential allegiances to Delhi and getting back to my ancestral roots and cheering for Punjab. But, those of you who read my blog regularly(yes, all four of you) know that when I back a team, I support it unconditionally through the good, the bad and the ugly(Everton, a case in point) ! Even though the Daredevils became fainthearted when it mattered, the campaign on a whole has still been satisfactory. As the IPL progressed, it became clear that Rajasthan and Mohali would be competing for the top spot; Bangalore(If it's Mumbai Indians and Kolkotta Knight Riders then shouldn't it Bengaluru Royal Challengers?Sorry for the digression but that's a valid point.) and Deccan for the wooden spoon; and that left a glut of 4 teams all very close together in the middle fighting it out for the last two semifinal births. It was to our credit that we held our nerve in many crucial games (and Mumbai lost theirs) to make the top four despite two heavily rain interrupted matches.
So to lift the spirits of my fellow Daredevils(atleast two of the aforementioned 4 are Daredevils) I've come up with a list of why Delhi are a good team and would return strongly next season:

1. We are amongst the best fielding sides in the tournament. I know it takes a brave man to maintain that after Yomahesh and Maharoof's clangers in the semi but if you have followed the IPL regularly you know it's true. Dhawan has probably been the best fielder in the IPL snapping up stunning catches for fun. Add to that Gambir, Tiwary, Dilshan, Karthik, Shoaib Malik, AB de Villiers, Amit Mishra, Daniel Vettori and Sangawan and you know what I'm talking about. Uptill the semis we had inflicted the most runouts-14- in the tournament as well.
2. We are a team with a Delhi Core. No other team in the IPL can claim that. Delhi is the only side where most of the stars are Delhites- Gambir, Viru, Dhawan, Amit Mishra(he moved to Haryana a few years ago to further his career), Sangawan and Rajat Bhatia.
3. We do not have an egoistic individual at the helm. Think Mallya, Dada and SRK and you wuld get my point. We are not a team that can be disrupted by controversies.
4. Three of our leading wickettakers had economy rates of under 7. Once again we are the only team with three bowlers with that distinction. McGrath(12 wickets in 14 matches @ 6.6), Maharoof(15 wickets in 10 matches @ 6.9) and Mishra(11 wickets in 6 matches @ 6.9) have formed a potent yet economical attack. Asif, Yomahesh, Sangwan, Geeves and Bhatia haven't been good consistently but the other three have ensured that with slight tweaking our attack would be excellent next season. I suggest Mitchel Johnson(a very realistic target, won't be too expensive and is a proven performer in T20).
5. Our top 3 has scored almost 1300 runs in the tournament. Even though our middle order has been frail, the form of Gambhir, Sehwag and Dhawan means that one good batsman will sure up our ranks. I suggest Kevin Pietersen!