Delhi Capitals could not bring on Dushmantha Chameera as concussion replacement for injured player Lungi Ngidi during their IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings due to the IPL rule allowing only four overseas players in the match.Ngidi suffered a head injury while trying to catch Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance before being taken to hospital.Following the incident, Delhi Capitals brought in Viraj Nigam as a concussion replacement in place of Sri Lankan pacer Chameera, leading to questions as to why the fast bowling replacement was not used.DC Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao explained during the post-match press conference that the team had no choice as they were already playing with four overseas players in the starting XI, which is the maximum allowed under the IPL rules.Since concussion replacements must also follow the same rule as an outside player, Chameera could not be brought in because he would have taken the outside number more than four.That’s why the team had to go with Vipraj instead, Rao said.
“Only four players from abroad are allowed. There is a rule. We cannot include a fifth player from abroad,” he said.Another reason is that Delhi had already used Aqib Nabi as an impact player during the match, which limited the bowling replacement options.Of the remaining available players in the 15-man squad, Vipraj was the only one who could bowl, though he is a spinner and not a fast bowler like Ngidi.Ngidi was trying to take a mistake from Priyansh Arya off the bowling of Axar Patel on the third ball of the second over when he misjudged the trajectory of the ball.The ball passed past his outstretched right hand while he was in the air, and the South African fell onto his back with the back of his head hitting the ground.He immediately held his head in pain while the medical staff rushed in with a stretcher. He was later taken to hospital in an ambulance, while the Delhi Traffic Police created a green lane to help the vehicle quickly get through traffic.The IPL later confirmed that Ngidi’s condition is stable and she is expected to be discharged from the hospital soon.Coming into the match, after DC had elected to bat first, an entertaining 220-run second-wicket stand between KL Rahul (152 in 67 balls, with 16 fours and nine sixes) and Nitish Rana (91 in 44 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes) took DC to 264/2.PBKS did not lay down their weapons either, as Priyansh Arya (43 in 17 balls, with two fours and five sixes) and Prabhasimran (76 in 26 balls, with nine fours and five sixes) shaved off 116 runs in the powerplay, later, Shreyas (71 in 36 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) putting on partnerships with Nihal Vadera (25) and Shashank Singh (19), completing the chase in 18.5 overs with six wickets remaining.