After a roaring start, Delhi Capitals finish with a whimper

IPL 2025: Delhi Capitals (DC) flattered to deceive once again. They began the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with a bang but soon lost momentum and ultimately failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Axar Patel-led side finished fifth, just one point behind fourth-placed Mumbai Indians—falling short of the cut-off, as only the top four teams advance.

This fifth-place finish was an improvement over last year’s performance, but it offers little consolation for a team that remains one of only four franchises never to have won the title in 18 years. Two of those franchises—Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) —have qualified for the playoffs this time and still have a shot at glory. Lucknow Super Giants is the fourth team not to have won the title.

DC, formerly known as Delhi Daredevils until 2018, will have to rebuild from scratch next season. Over the years, they have consistently assembled strong teams on paper but failed to deliver when it mattered.

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Failing to finish games

“For me, it’s a marathon. We had a great sprint to start with… a massive start. But then, we’ve also had games where I genuinely felt that we could have won and we just didn’t finish those games,” said chief coach Hemang Badani.

“If you want to go to the playoffs, you want to ideally finish those games. And if you are not able to do so, then you have no one else to blame but yourself. We as a side could have done better,” he added.

Badani, a former India international, was one of several key changes DC made ahead of the season. Another former India player, Venugopal Rao, was brought in as Director of Cricket, while former England batsman Kevin Pietersen—who once played for the franchise—joined as Mentor. Despite these high-profile appointments and other changes, the move did not yield the desired results.

“Sorry to all @DelhiCapitals fans—like you I too am reeling from the second half of the season. What started so well ended extremely poorly,” wrote team co-owner Parth Jindal on social media. “There are positives to take from this campaign… Post the season there will need to be a lot of introspection on a lot of aspects.”

Losing way after a brilliant start

Ironically,  DC began their campaign with four straight wins, taking five out of their first six matches. But a major mid-season slump saw them win only two of their next nine games. Their inability to seal tight contests proved costly.

Still, there were some heartening individual performances. KL Rahul emerged as Delhi’s top scorer with 539 runs in 13 matches, batting at an impressive strike rate of 149.72. He notched up one century and three half-centuries, though his fluctuating batting position likely impacted his rhythm.

Abhishek Porel also impressed, tallying 301 runs at a strike rate of 146.82 across 13 matches.

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Among the bowlers, Chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav stood out as the most successful, taking 15 wickets in 14 matches at a miserly economy rate of 7.07. Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc claimed 14 wickets in 11 games but proved expensive, with an economy rate of 10.16.

Crucially, Starc’s decision not to return to India after the IPL’s brief suspension—amid the India–Pakistan conflict—came at a time when the team needed him most. Compounding their troubles, Axar Patel’s finger injury and subsequent illness further derailed DC’s campaign.