The Delhi Capitals were one of the favorites to lift the IPL trophy this year however, the team has been hit with some bad luck as three of its premier fast bowlers namely Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada and Chris Woakes will not feature in the first half of the tournament. While Rabada and Sharma may join the team later, Woakes has confirmed that he will not be a part of IPL 2020. The English all-rounder was supposed to provide support to the other two pacers in this year’s IPL.

Delhi Capitals had bought him at a price of 1.5 Crores INR in the auction but given how he has opted out of the season, it is unlikely that any franchise would show interest in him going forward. Looking at the future now, Delhi’s team management will try to sign a replacement for Woakes and as per the rules of IPL, they can sign a player from the list of unsold players.

Here are the 3 players who can replace Chris Woakes at Delhi Capitals

1. Colin de Grandhomme

Since Chris Woakes could have contributed to the batting and bowling departments of Delhi Capitals, the backroom staff would look to sign a replacement having the same qualities. Woakes had even featured in the past seasons of IPL thus, the team management will try to get such a player on board who has earlier played in the IPL.

Colin de Grandhomme is one of the best all-rounders available in the pool of unsold players. The New Zealand player has been a part of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past besides, he is in terrific form as well.

He played a whirlwind knock of 58 runs in the 3rd ODI of the recently concluded series against India. The 33-year-old has played a lot of T20 cricket as he has played 197 T20 games, amassing over 3,000 runs and picking up 66 wickets.

2. Adam Milne

Looking at the list of Delhi Capitals players who are currently injured, it would be a good decision to rope in an overseas fast bowler in the team. The reason behind that is the team has an all-rounder like Marcus Stoinis who possesses a similar type of talent like Chris Woakes. The Australian was in fantastic form during the Big Bash League hence, the team management can rely on him.

So, the issue is that Kagiso Rabada may not play for Delhi Capitals in the first few matches and the team does not have a replacement for him. The think tank can pull off a smart move by signing Adam Milne as Chris Woakes’ replacement and play him in place of Rabada.

The New Zealand fast bowler has been a part of two IPL franchises in the past. Although he is prone to injuries, Milne has played 96 T20 games in his career where he has picked up 116 wickets. His best figures of 5/11 show that he can wreak havoc once he gets going.

3. Ben Cutting

Former Sunrisers Hyderabad star, Ben Cutting is a popular name in India because of his heroics in the IPL 2016 final. The Australian player took the title away from Royal Challengers Bangalore with his blitzkrieg in the final overs. Unfortunately, Hyderabad did not retain him for the next seasons as Cutting found himself in the Mumbai Indians squad.

The presence of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya in the team did not allow Cutting to showcase his talent at the Mumbai Indians. Hence, he was released by the team and no franchise showed interest in him at IPL Auction 2020.

Cutting could be a valuable addition to the batting department of Delhi Capitals which already has the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer and Shreyas Iyer. Also, he can make his presence felt with some vital overs in the middle.

Thus, these are the three players Delhi Capitals can sign as Chris Woakes’ replacement.