Can the Gambhir-Ponting alliance turn Daredevils around?

For the first time since they topped the league phase in 2012, Delhi Daredevils go into a season with conviction that they can make it to the playoffs. The reset button in the auction seems to have worked for them: they now have a balanced squad with a mix of young talent and proven pedigree, a mix of Indian talent and big international names, an astute and successful T20 captain, and an astute and successful T20 coach.

Daredevils come into this IPL with an underwhelming history. They seemed to have the best team in the first two seasons but failed in the big matches. Then they let some of their players go, players who went on to become IPL legends. Gautam Gambhir, now back as captain, was let go. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to two titles. AB de Villiers was not retained. David Warner was a Daredevils player before he became hugely successful. This time, though, they have retained faith in young talent - Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer among others - while also managing to bring in T20 superstars in Glenn Maxwell and Colin Munro.

Ricky Ponting is the man given the responsibility, along with the captain Gambhir, to turn Daredevils around. For years now, it has been hard to tell which the home side at Feroz Shah Kotla is because the people of Delhi have hardly seen any success to be able to relate to. This season, there is anticipation. Daredevils have an IPL to do well in, and Delhi to win over.

Bowlers always win you matches, but in T20 cricket, big-hitting is a close next-best thing. Daredevils, light on batting in recent seasons, have filled the squad with them. If they choose to load their batting with all the hitters at their disposal, and go with Indian spinners as their bowling strength, the strike rate of the Daredevils top seven is over 140 since the start of 2015. That would mean playing Maxwell, Munro, Chris Morris and Jason Roy to go with Gambhir, Pant and Iyer. Even if they bench Roy for the left-arm swing of Trent Boult, there is enough firepower in that batting unit.

An under-rated part of their squad is the Indian spinners: Shahbaz Nadeem, Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav and Rahul Tewatia are a good contingent to choose from. Their T20 economy rate - ranging between 6.5 and 7.3 - is impressive. They are also playing with an excellent captain of spinners.

Over reliance on Morris when it comes to fast bowling. In Boult, Daredevils have skills that T20 coaches look for - left-arm swing bowling - but he has a record to correct. Just like his team-mate Kagiso Rabada, Boult has conceded 8.8 an over in IPL. If one of the two comes right, Daredevils could drop one overseas batsman and have a balanced line-up.

It will revolve around Boult and Rabada. Maxwell, Munro and Morris are certain to play in the initial stages of the season. If Munro doesn't come good, Roy is available as a top-order replacement.

Daredevils are full of top-order batsmen. They will want quick pitches at home, but if Gambhir can drop into the middle order and take the responsibility of batting in sluggish conditions, it can bring their spinners into the contest. Their two strategies will be to either go all out in good batting conditions and let their bowlers bowl defensively, or bank on their spinners and expect the likes of Gambhir and Iyer to show the way on slower surfaces.

1 Colin Munro, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Chris Morris, 7 Vijay Shankar, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Amit Mishra/ Rahul Tewatia, 11 Mohammed Shami

Ricky Ponting (coach), Pravin Amre and Sridharan Sriram (assistant coaches), James Hopes (bowling coach)