KL Rahul returns to the pavilion after being dismissed by RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and RCB at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. (PTI photo) Although they seem to have found some stability in recent years, Delhi Capitals (DC) remain one of the most inconsistent and underachieving teams in the history of the Indian Premier League.Not surprisingly, DC is the only team alongside Punjab Kings (PBKS) that has been a part of the league since its inception but has yet to win the title. DC have only reached the final once, in 2020 when they were beaten by Mumbai Indians.
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Last season (2025), DC started their campaign on a high under new captain Axar Patel, winning five of their first six matches. However, their campaign fell so drastically after that that they couldn’t even qualify for the play-offs. The Axar Patel-led team lost five of their next eight matches to finish fifth in the points table.Ahead of the IPL auction, DC released Donovan Ferreira (traded to Rajasthan Royals), Darshan Nalkande, Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma and Sediqullah Atal. While they managed to trade Nitish Rana from RR.DC have a decent Rs 21.80 crore in their purse to fill 8 vacancies (5 overseas). As they prepare for the December 16 IPL auction in Abu Dhabi, here’s a look at some of the strengths of the league’s underachievers, the gaps Axar Patel’s side need to fill in their squad and the players they could go for in the auction.
Stable core, but key roles need to be filled
As is often the case with mini-auctions, especially a year after the mega-auctions, DC has a pretty decent core. There aren’t many batsmen who know better than KL Rahul how to score runs in the IPL. He has hit over .500 in a season seven times in the last eight years. While Triston Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma know a thing or two about finishing an innings.Between 15-20 overs, Ashutosh faced 88 balls last season and scored 163 runs at a strike rate of 185.2. At the same time, Stubbs batted at 181.8 between 15-20 overs last year, scoring 180 runs off 99 balls in that period.The arrival of Nitish Rana could also prove significant for their middle order.In Mitchell Starc, DC have a world-class fast bowler who can turn the game on its head. In 11 innings last season, the Australian pacer took 14 wickets and was the second most successful bowler in terms of wickets for DC.Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam form a formidable and versatile spin attack for DC. Last season, Kuldeep seemed almost hesitant to give the batting an easier try. With an outrageous economy of 7.36, Kuldeep also took 15 wickets last season, while Vipraj and Axar took 11 and 5 wickets respectively.
Opener hole – explosive type
After releasing Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk, DC will go all out to bring an opener to their side. With KL Rahul most likely to be the second opening batsman, DC would be looking at the auction for an explosive batter who can put the opposition under pressure right from the start.There are many options for this role. DC can go for Jonny Bairstow, Rahmanullah Gurbaz or Quinton de Kock and if they manage to nab any of them then they will have a wicket too along with an explosive opener.Another thing DC could think about is buying McGurk back for a lower price. As for India’s top-order options, Prithvi Shaw, who played for DC from 2018-24 before going unsold in last year’s mega auction, could be a possibility. DC could also look for an experienced but explosive middle-order batsman, someone like Liam Livingstone or Sarfaraz Khan.
A race for pace
DC certainly have Mitchell Starc, Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar and Chameera but they will definitely be on the hunt for an overseas fast bowler, especially someone who can come in and deliver 2-3 overs at the death. Available options include Matheesa Pathirana, Anrich Nortje. DC may also sign Bangladeshi left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, who came in as a temporary replacement for McGurk last season for DC. At the time, the IPL said that the temporary replacements would not be retained, so DC had to release Rahman, but they might be able to buy him back in the auction.However, with a wallet at Rs 21.80, it would be interesting to see the strategy DCs go into the auction with to fill all these gaps.
