Despite ending their IPL 2026 campaign with a 40-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata on Sunday, Delhi Capitals once again finished outside the playoffs. DC finished sixth in the table with seven wins and seven defeats, extending the drought to five consecutive seasons. This was also the second successive season in which the combination of coach Hemang Badani and skipper Axar Patel failed to guide the franchise to the top four.
Delhi showed flashes of being a strong team during the season and at some stages looked capable of making the playoffs. But poor home performances, lack of wickets, poor catching, among others, combined to derail their campaign once again.
Home defect
While Delhi have struggled for consistency throughout the season, their poor home performance 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 win came at home against Mumbai Indians on April 4 by six wickets, while their second came later against Rajasthan Royals last week by five wickets.
In between those wins, they lost five straight home matches against Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Chennai Super Kings and KKR.The Capitals struggled to understand the changing nature of Kotla Stadium and often failed to settle on the right strategy or play a host of matches at home.
Not exploiting moments and capturing them poorly
There have been many games where DC came close to victory but failed to finish the job. 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 to Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.Considering the season in which DC finished sixth despite starting with two wins, Badani said things could have gone differently if the team had captured important moments during the matches.“There were many matches where I honestly felt the match could go either way and we didn’t seize those moments,” Badani said in the press conference after the win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
“One of them is Gujarat [Titans] match, we lost the match there by one run. the [failure to defend] 264 [against Punjab Kings] It is again something that you might try to seize or try to defend that outcome. With CSK [Chennai Super Kings]we dropped some catches, and with SRH [Sunrisers Hyderabad]We dropped some catches at the crucial time of the match.
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Lack of wickets
Apart from losing crucial matches, Delhi’s inability to take wickets throughout the season also hurt their campaign badly.
Even after KKR won their last match, DC finished IPL 2026 with just 64 wickets in 14 matches, the lowest among all teams.DC’s bowlers sent out 254.3 overs during the season and averaged 39.92, the second-worst among all sides, ahead of only Punjab Kings (42.54). Their bowling strike rate of 23.8 was also better than Punjab Kings (24.5).
Stark’s absence in most matches
Mitchell Starc playing in just six matches was yet another bad news for Delhi. The left-arm pacer picked up 11 wickets at an average of 20.36 and still stands second in the list of highest wicket-taker for the capital along with Axar Patel. Only Lungi Ngidi, with 13 wickets in 11 matches, has taken more wickets for DC.Badani admitted that Stark’s absence affected the team, but he also pointed out that DC still has chances to qualify.“Starc is obviously someone who has performed very well in all formats, and not having him available for us in the first nine games is holding us back. But I think, overall, even without him, we had our moments. Even without him, we had our chances to go through. Starc makes a big difference. But I think, as a team, I really feel that if we play by those small margins… it’s a game of small margins.”
Literally, very small margins.
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Keep it slow
Milestones like fifties and centuries don’t matter much in T20 cricket, making batting average a much more important metric. In terms of overall batting average during the league stage, DC finished fourth from bottom, ahead only of Chennai Super Kings (147.71), Lucknow Super Giants (145.03) and Kolkata Knight Riders (147.16).Delhi Capitals batsmen recorded an overall strike rate of 149.29 in IPL 2026.A closer look at the numbers highlights the issue further. Of the seven DC batsmen who faced at least 100 deliveries during the season, only one had a strike rate above 170 – KL Rahul.Rahul scored 593 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 174.41.
Kuldeep “open chested”.
Kuldeep Yadav was named man of the match for figures of 3/29 against KKR in the final league match in Delhi, but the left-arm pacer admitted that he has not had a good season in the IPL 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 said: “When we were bowling, I missed my partner Kuldeep.”Speaking after the KKR match, Kuldeep explained the technical issue he felt affected his bowling during the season.“I thought I was bowling a little open-chested, and sometimes you don’t use your whole body.
You have just pushed the ball, and this is where T20 batsmen are very strong to hit the ground deep and play off the back foot. Once you start using more of your body and trying to spin the ball harder, and eventually you see the result, you get the dip and the drift, obviously you can change the pace as well. So it was nice to see. I think it was a nice game for me.
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IPL 2026: DC Report Card
Despite the disappointing campaign, a few players gave DC real reasons for optimism.
KL Rahul has become the batting pillar of the side. Not only did he score 593 runs in 14 matches, but he also improved his batting average, reaching 174.41 in the season and smashing a century and five half-centuries, often carrying the batting line-up during difficult periods. Youngsters Sameer Rizvi and Ashutosh Sharma were also impressed. Ashutosh, in particular, stood out with his fearless play and strike rate reaching 181.91 in limited overs. With the ball, Lungi Ngidi emerged as DC’s most reliable wicket-taker, taking 13 wickets in a difficult season for the bowlers. In the three matches he played, young pacer Madhav Tiwari also showed promise and took four wickets at an economy of 8.70.
What’s next for the capital?
The upcoming IPL season will bring another shift in control for Delhi Capitals, with joint ownership returning from GMR Sports to JSW Sports over the next two years.Will Axar Patel continue to lead the team in IPL 2027, or does DC need a complete reset again? It may be too early to answer these questions as no one knows what the thinking is within the administration. However, what is known for sure is that IPL 2026 has become another season full of missed opportunities for DC and they remain along with 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.