Delhi Capitals players (Pic credit: IPL) NEW DELHI: The Arun Jaitley Stadium was painted yellow on Tuesday evening. Everywhere the eye looked, there was an unmistakable supply of yellow jerseys on every stall celebrating the best that Delhi has ever produced. They were there in groups and in small numbers, but their presence was hard to ignore. At one point there were chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’. Ironically, the former Indian captain, or ‘Thala’ as he is more affectionately known by the Chennai Super Kings faithful, has not even traveled to the capital and is yet to play a match this IPL season.At the other end, apart from a small section of DC Toli, the Delhi Capitals fans were conspicuous by their absence. The Blue-Red hosts had little to show for and little reason to explode throughout Match 48 of IPL 2026.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!After winning the toss and electing to bat, DC never got going and it was only a late show from Tristan Stubbs (38 off 31 balls) and Sameer Rizvi (40 off 24) that helped them post a respectable 155/7.Led by Sanju Samson’s 87 off 52 balls at the top of the order and Kartik Sharma’s unbeaten 41 off 31, Chennai Super Kings cruised to a 15-ball 8-wicket total.The result leaves DC seventh in the IPL table with one win from their last five played or two from their last eight. At this point, they are only better than Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants.Aside from their modest hopes of making the playoffs, what this bunch has in common is their woeful home records. MI (33.3 percent home wins), KKR (25 percent), DC (20 percent) and LSG (0 percent) have all had a terrible home run to go along with their overall poor season.In contrast, ČSK, which is sixth after mutual victories, has the third best home record (60 percent of wins at home). The four teams in the playoffs – Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals – all have strong home wins of 75 per cent, 80 per cent, 60 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.Delhi Capitals didn’t help their cause with the variety of surfaces on offer, while conditions were inconsistent due to unseasonal rain and cooler evening temperatures.The afternoon match against Punjab Kings was a flat package and ended up producing 529 runs. Then against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, live band saw DC in a package for just 75.DC captain Axar Patel on Tuesday expected a slowdown on the hitherto unused surface. However, he witnessed the opposite towards the end and well prepared batting was needed for hours. Where DC barely found any, CSK had Samson and Karthik put together an unbeatable 114-run stand.Delhi Capitals coach Hemang Badani admitted that they are struggling in most departments and need to adapt better to the conditions and pitch.“We do not control the pitch. The surfaces are managed as per BCCI guidelines to ensure neutrality,” he said at the post-match media conference.“You play what you’re given. Yes, it was a bit unpredictable on our home ground. One game he had a very high score and another spin with an assist.”“But that’s the case with all teams. You have to adapt and find ways to win,” he said.Badani said they needed to win all four remaining games, with two coming at home. But for this, it is necessary to solve the discrepancies.“One day we shoot well but we don’t shoot well. Other days we shoot well but fall short in another area.”“At this level, you need at least 60 to 70 percent of your players to contribute on the day. That was missing,” he finished.
