By BV Swagath
Dashing opening batsman Virender Sehwag has stepped down from captaincy of the Delhi Daredevils. Mahela Jayawardene has replaced Sehwag as the new Delhi Daredevils Captain. The news is that Sehwag wanted to resign from captaincy so that he can concentrate on his batting. The Delhi Daredevils have announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming Champions League T20 2012 to be played in South Africa from October 9.
Former India bowler and the present mentor of the Delhi Daredevils – TA Sekhar has been quoted to have said: “Viru told us a few months ago that he wanted to bat freely and suggested that we make Mahela the captain of the side.”
Sehwag has led the Delhi Daredevils for four out of the five IPL seasons so far. One of the IPL seasons in 2010 saw Gautam Gambhir lead the team before the southpaw shifted to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Delhi Daredevils is easily one of the strongest sides in the CLT20 2012 with quite a lot of heavy stars available. Apart from Sehwag and Jayawardene, the Delhi Daredevils boasts of international stars like Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, David Warner, fast bowler Morne Morkel and all-rounder Andre Russell.
The Daredevils also have the young and exciting Unmukt Chand (India Under-19 Skipper) in their squad. The only blow for the Daredevils is losing speedster Varun Aaron because of an injury.
Delhi Daredevils find themselves in Group A along with Kolkata Knight Riders, Perth Scorchers, Titans and a qualifier in the CLT20 2012.
Delhi Daredevils Squad for Champions League T20 2012: Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), David Warner, Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, Morne Morkel, Andre Russell, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Venugopal Rao, Pawan Negi, Naman Ojha (Wicket Keeper), Ajit Agarkar, Unmukt Chand and Aavishkar Salvi (as replacement for Varun Aaron).
