Poor home record Toothless bowling and slow batting: Inside Delhi Capitals’ failed IPL 2026 campaign

Despite ending their IPL 2026 campaign with a 40-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Sunday, Delhi Capitals have yet again finished out of the play-offs. DC finished sixth in the table with seven wins and seven losses, extending their playoff drought to five consecutive seasons. It was also the second season in a row in which the combination of head coach Hemang Badani and captain Axar Patel failed to guide the franchise into the top four. Delhi showed flashes of strength during the season and at some stages looked capable of making the play-offs. But poor performances at home, lack of wickets, poor catching among others have combined to derail their campaign once again.

While Delhi have struggled for consistency throughout the season, their poor performances at home once again played a major role in their disappointing campaign.DC played seven matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and won only two of them. Their first home win came against Mumbai Indians on April 4 by six wickets, while the second came much later against Rajasthan Royals by five wickets last week. In between these wins, they lost five consecutive home games against Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Chennai Super Kings and KKR.The Capitals struggled to understand the different nature of the Kotla’s pitch and often failed to settle on the right strategy or game mix for home games.

There were several games where DC came close to winning but couldn’t get the job done. They lost to Gujarat Titans by one run at home and were also unable to defend a total of 264 against Punjab Kings.Dropped catches added to their woes and proved costly in defeats against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.Looking back at a season where DC finished sixth despite starting with two wins, Badani said things could have turned out differently if the side had seized key moments during matches.“There were many matches where I really felt the game could have gone either way and we didn’t capitalize on those moments,” Badani said at a press conference after the win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). “One of them is the Gujarat (Titans) game, we lost there by one run. (Not being able to defend) 264 (against Punjab Kings) is again something you would try to grab or try to defend that score. With CSK (Chennai Super Kings) we dropped some catches and with SRH (Sunrisers) we dropped some catches in the game.”

Apart from losing key matches, their campaign was badly damaged by Delhi’s inability to pick up wickets throughout the season. Even after knocking out KKR in their last match, DC ended IPL 2026 with just 64 wickets in 14 matches, the joint-fewest of any team.DC’s bowlers bowled 254.3 overs during the season at an average of 39.92, the second worst of any side, ahead of only Punjab Kings (42.54). Their bowling success rate of 23.8 was also better than only Punjab Kings (24.5).

Mitchell Starc, who played only six matches, was another bad news for Delhi. The left-arm pacer took 11 wickets at an average of 20.36 and still finished as DC’s joint second-highest wicket-taker next to Axar Patel. Only Lungi Ngidi has scored more for DC with 13 goals in 11 games.Badani admitted that Starc’s absence has affected the team, but also pointed out that DC still have opportunities to qualify.“Obviously Starc is someone who has done extremely well in all formats and not having the first nine games is a drag on our progress. But I think overall even without him we’ve had our moments. Even without him we’ve had chances to qualify. Starc makes a huge difference. But on top of that I think I really feel that if we played with a very small margin.”

Milestones like fifties and centuries don’t play much of a role in T20 cricket, making batting strike rate a much more important metric. In terms of overall strike rate during the league phase, DC stood fourth from the end, ahead of only Chennai Super Kings (147.71), Lucknow Super Giants (145.03) and Kolkata Knight Riders (147.16).Delhi Capitals batsmen have a strike total of 149.29 in IPL 2026.A closer look at the numbers highlights this problem even more. Of the seven DC batsmen who faced at least 100 deliveries during the season, only one batsman had a success rate above 170 – KL Rahul.Rahul scored 593 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 174.41.

“Open Chest” Kuldeep

Kuldeep Yadav was named man of the match for his figures of 3/29 against KKR in the last league match in Delhi, but the left-armer admitted that he did not have a good IPL season overall.Before the KKR match, Kuldeep had managed just seven wickets in ten innings at an average of 50.28 and an economy rate of 10.66. After DC’s defeat to Chennai Super Kings two weeks ago, Axar Patel even remarked that “I missed my partner Kuldeep when we were bowling”.After the KKR match, Kuldeep explained the technical issue that he felt had affected his bowling during the season.“I thought I was bowling a bit more open-chested and sometimes you don’t use your whole body. I was just pushing the ball, and that’s where the T20 batsmen are extremely strong, to hit deep down the ground and play the leg. Once you start using more of your body and try to spin the ball harder, and you end up seeing the result, you get a dip and a drift, and of course it was lovely to see the pace of the game. I.”

IPL 2026: DC Report Card

Despite the disappointing campaign, several players gave DC real reasons for optimism. KL Rahul became the batting pillar of the side. Not only did he score 593 runs in 14 matches, he also improved his strike tally, hitting 174.41 in the season and smashing one century and five half-centuries, often carrying the batting line-up at difficult times. Youngsters Sameer Rizvi and Ashutosh Sharma also impressed. Ashutosh in particular excelled with a fearless stroke play and a strike rate of 181.91 in limited overs. With the ball, Lungi Ngidi has emerged as DC’s most reliable wicket-taking pacer, taking 13 wickets in a tough season for the bowler. In the three games he played, young pacer Madhav Tiwari also showed promise, taking four wickets at an economy of 8.70.

What next for DC?

The next IPL season will see another shift in management for Delhi Capitals, with co-ownership moving back from GMR Sports to JSW Sports for the next two years.Will Axar Patel continue to lead the side in IPL 2027 or will DC need a complete reset again? It may be too early to answer these questions because no one knows what management is thinking. However, what is known for sure is that IPL 2026 has become another season full of missed opportunities for DC and they remain alongside Punjab Kings among the two teams that have been part of the league since its inception in 2008 but are yet to lift the IPL trophy.