Delhi Capitals have received a massive blow ahead of IPL 2020 as their marquee all-rounder, Chris Woakes has decided to skip the competition. The all-rounder has stated that he wants to balance his workload for the upcoming international summer hence, he had no other option but to pull out of IPL 2020. This has left Delhi Capitals shattered because they are already going to miss Kagiso Rabada and Ishant Sharma in the initial matches.
All the top three fast bowlers of the team are now out of the team hence, Delhi will find it tough to get their IPL 2020 campaign off to a good start. The right-handed all-rounder was supposed to lead the fast bowling attack in the absence of Rabada and Ishant. Now that he is out of the competition, the team management has started to hunt for a replacement.
Here are the 3 players who can replace him at Delhi Capitals:
Mark Wood:
Since Delhi Capitals’ fast bowling attack needs a major boost now, English pacer Mark Wood could be a viable replacement of Chris Woakes. The former Chennai Super Kings player never got a proper chance to prove his talent in the IPL. Wood could only play one match for the Chennai-based franchise before he was ruled out of the competition.
The Englishman would be rearing to make a comeback to the cash rich league and it could be in the way of a replacement. After none of the franchises showed interest in him at the IPL Auction, Delhi could give him a second life by getting him on board as replacement of Woakes.
Mustafizur Rahman:
It was both strange and shocking to see none of the teams go after Mustafizur Rahman in IPL Auction 2020. The left-arm fast bowler from Bangladesh was expected to receive a massive bid in the auction however, as things stand Rahman is not going to play IPL 2020 because he went unsold in the auction.
Delhi Capitals made a bad move by letting Trent Boult in the trade window. They did not buy another left-arm fast bowler in the auction which means that their fast bowling attack was pretty one-dimensional. Delhi can correct their mistake now by signing the Bangladeshi bowler as Woakes’ replacement. The chances that he makes a big impact in IPL are very high.
Alzarri Joseph:
Another shocking name which went unsold in this year’s IPL auction was Alzarri Joseph. Mumbai Indians signed him as a replacement last year and he made an instant impact by breaking Sohail Tanvir’s longstanding record of 6/14. Joseph recorded figures of 6/12 in his dream debut match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Caribbean player can produce the same performances once again if he gets a chance to play IPL 2020.
Joseph can be a fantastic addition to the Delhi side because they already have Avesh Khan in the team who is a fast bowler. The two pacers can clock 140 kmph plus on the speedometers consistently while Mohit Sharma or Harshal Patel can play the role of the third pacer. Thus, these are the three players Delhi can sign as Chris Woakes’ replacement.
