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Can Delhi Capitals go one step further this time?

Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning at the WPL opening ceremony BCCI

Where Delhi Capitals finished in WPL 2024

For the second time in a row, Delhi Capitals finished as the runners-up. After topping the league stage again with six wins from eight games, they came undone against Royals Challengers Bengaluru in the final.

What's new in WPL 2025?

Two wicketkeeper-batters: Sarah Bryce and Nandini Kashyap. With incumbent Taniya Bhatia hardly contributing with the bat - she scored five runs in five innings across two seasons - DC went for an upgrade at the auction. Since Bryce comes from Scotland, an Associate team, DC can have her in the XI as the fifth overseas player. While both Bryce and Kashyap are better batters than Bhatia, they prefer batting at the top of the order, which will not be possible at DC, so they will have to move down.

DC also bought Niki Prasad, India's captain at their recent Under-19 T20 World Cup triumph in Malaysia. The other new face in the squad is 20-year-old left-arm spinner Shree Charani. Both Prasad and Charani are likely to start on the bench, though.

Delhi Capitals' likely XI

1 Shafali Verma, 2 Meg Lanning (capt), 3 Alice Capsey, 4 Jemimah Rodrigues, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Nandini Kashyap (wk), 7 Jess Jonassen, 8 Minnu Mani, 9 Shikha Pandey, 10 Arundhati Reddy, 11 Radha Yadav

Other players: Annabel Sutherland, Sarah Bryce (wk), Titas Sadhu, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatia, Niki Prasad, Shree Charani

Key players: Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp

The opening pair of Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma has played an instrumental role in DC making back-to-back finals. They are by far the most prolific pair in the WPL, their partnership tally of 868 - at 9.43 runs per over - is more than 300 runs clear of the next best. Given DC's lower-middle order looks slightly weaker, they would want Lanning and Shafali to set the tone once again.

Marizanne Kapp is among the leading allrounders in world cricket. With the ball, she can trouble the best of the batters. With the bat, depending on the situation, she can be the anchor or the aggressor with the same efficiency. That quality becomes even more important given Kapp, likely to bat at No. 5, will be the link between a world-class top four and a somewhat inexperienced lower order.

Young one to watch: Nandini Kashyap

Kashyap, 21, is an uncapped, diminutive wicketkeeper-opener. She plays for Uttarakhand in India's domestic circuit and was one of the most consistent batters during the 2024-25 season. In ten 50-over games, she scored 550 runs at an average of 55.00 and a strike rate of 81.48. In T20s, she took it a notch higher, tallying 579 runs at 57.90 with a strike rate of 131.89. The challenge for her will be the step-up on the big stage and adjusting to a likely middle-order role.

Delhi Capitals' league fixtures

DC are the only team with no home games this season. They are also one of two teams - Mumbai Indians are the other - with two back-to-back games. On February 28, they face Mumbai Indians and the next day they play RCB. That they finish their league games before anyone else is another disadvantage if it comes down to a last-minute NRR race.