Irfan reveals a potential reason behind Delhi Capitals` failure to win the title

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The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.

Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan revealed the potential reason why Delhi Capitals (DC) have not managed to clinch the title.

Speaking about DC, Irfan cited the example when the franchise acquired the services of Andre Russell but was not able to find a place for him in the playing XI. He also stated that the Delhi-based franchise fell short in talent identification.

“I was with Punjab and Delhi for three years each. When I was in Delhi, Eric Simmons, who is now with CSK as the bowling coach, was the coach, and there was an effort to bring stability. But when you let go of players like AB de Villiers, and you have Andre Russell, starting from scratch is not easy. I played alongside Russell in the same dressing room, and there were a lot of discussions about giving him more opportunities, but they just couldn`t find a place for him consistently in the XI. So, identification of talent is very important, and I feel Delhi used to fall short in that area,” he said.

The tournament is all set to kick off from March 28. The first match is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

DC will begin the IPL 2026 campaign by playing their first match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow.

IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: Full Squads

Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi.

Delhi Capitals: David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari.

(With ANI Inputs)

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