Delhi Capitals have suffered a big blow ahead of IPL 2020 as their star all-rounder Chris Woakes has withdrawn from the league, PA News Agency has reported. The England all-rounder had joined the Delhi-based franchise at his base price of Rs 1.5 Crore.
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The update is a blow to the franchise as Woakes would have contributed in both the departments but Delhi is now all set to miss his services. With Woakes set to miss the league, Delhi have a tough task to bring in a pace-bowling all-rounder.
Woakes has played 18 IPL matches in which he has 63 runs and 25 wickets. Back into the auction for IPL 2018, He was one of the biggest gainers as he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore for 7.4 Crore. He did take eight wickets in five matches but had an economy rate of 10.36.
He went unsold in IPL 2019 auction but made attracted a bid in IPL 2020 auction. Woakes, like other Test players, would have missed few matches at the start and playoffs due to international fixtures.
Apart from Woakes, Delhi Capitals bought Jason Roy (Rs 1.5 Crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs 7.75 Crore), Alex Carey (Rs 2.4 Crore), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 4.8 Crore), Lalit Yadav (Rs 20 Lakh), Mohit Sharma (Rs 50 Lakh) and Tushar Deshpande (Rs 20 Lakh).
DC also brought in seniors R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane from Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, respectively. There is no change in captaincy as Shreyas Iyer will continue to lead the franchise. Under him, Delhi ended their drought and qualified for the playoffs stage after a long break of seven seasons.
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It is already confirmed that Delhi will be without the services of their advisor Sourav Ganguly. The former India captain is now the President of BCCI and isn’t allowed to be part of an IPL franchise.
Delhi Capitals play their opening game of the season against Kings XI Punjab at Arun Jaitley Stadium on March 30.