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Delhi Capitals (DC) once again failed to end their IPL trophy drought after another disappointing campaign in 2026. Despite an impressive start to IPL 2026, Delhi Capitals collapsed at crucial moments and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
Axar Patel-led DC team finished sixth in the points table with seven wins and seven losses in 14 matches. This season they lost many matches despite being in winning positions and those costly mistakes ultimately shattered their playoff hopes.
Hemang Badani admits Delhi Capitals failed in pressure moments in IPL 2026
After scoring 40 runs on KKR in their last IPL 2026 match, Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani openly admitted that the team failed to be consistent throughout the tournament. He admitted that DC had enough chances to qualify but could not handle the pressure situation properly.
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Delhi Capitals’ biggest disappointment came against Gujarat Titans when they lost by just one run in a thrilling match at their home ground. Another shocking defeat came against Punjab Kings when Delhi failed to defend the mammoth total of 264 runs at their home ground Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Badani further said that the team also suffered a lot due to poor fielding this season. Delhi dropped crucial catches in crucial matches against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad and these mistakes proved extremely costly in the subsequent matches.
Hemang Badani said in the post-match press conference in Kolkata: “There were a number of games that I really thought could have gone either way. And we didn’t take advantage of those moments.”
Batting collapsed and weak bowling badly affected DC
Badani admitted that Delhi repeatedly failed to capture crucial moments when the matches were evenly balanced. According to him, the team had many chances to turn the game but failed to gain control at the right time.
Delhi Capitals’ batting is also struggling badly with consistency. The middle order collapsed due to pressure and wickets kept falling during important matches. This made it difficult for the team to build regular momentum throughout the tournament.
The bowling attack also disappointed the Capitals. DC bowlers were able to take only 64 wickets in 14 matches, which was one of the lowest in the entire IPL 2026 season.
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Badani further explained, “Even when we were batting, we were not able to save our wickets at times. If you go back and look at the statistics, we have lost a lot of wickets in clusters. And as a bowling side, you ideally want to take a lot of wickets. If you look at the statistics of teams taking wickets, I think we are at the bottom. I think the culmination of all this is why we are on 14 points and we “Could have been much better than this.”
Hemang Badani refuses to blame Mitchell Starc’s absence
Well, the DC head coach refused to use Mitchell Starc’s absence in the early stages of the tournament as the main excuse for the failed campaign. He believes that the Delhi team had enough quality to qualify for the playoffs even without the Australian fast bowler.
Badani concluded by saying, “I really feel that if we had played by smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller margins and if we had seized those small margins, we would still have been alive in the tournament.”
