DC paid the price for not seizing crucial moments, says Head Coach Badani
Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani admitted that his side failed to produce consistent performances through the season and paid the price for not capitalising on key moments in crucial matches. DC ended their 2026 IPL campaign in sixth place with seven wins and as many defeats, falling short of the playoffs for the fifth year running.
There were several matches where DC came close to winning but failed to cross the line. They suffered a heartbreaking one-run defeat against Gujarat Titans at home and were also unable to defend a massive total of 264 against Punjab Kings.
To add to their woes, there were dropped catches galore, which proved to be decisive in their losses against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“There were many games that I genuinely felt that could go either way. And we did not seize those moments,” Badani said at the post-match press conference on Sunday.
“One being the Gujarat game, we lost the game by one run. The 264 is again something that you would fancy yourself to defend that score. Even with CSK, we dropped some catches. With SRH, we dropped some catches at a crucial time of the game.”
Their batting unit frequently lost wickets in clusters, while the bowling attack lacked penetration throughout the season. DC bowlers managed only 64 wickets in 14 games, the joint-lowest tally among all teams.
“Even with us batting, we did not many a times hold on to our wickets. We have lost too many in clusters, if you go back and see the stats,” Badani said. “And as a bowling side, you ideally want to pick a lot of wickets. If you see the stats with sides picking wickets, I think we are right at the bottom.
“I think a culmination of all of it is the reason why we are at 14 points and we could have been a lot better than that.”
The absence of pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who had been their standout bowler last year, for the major part of the season also hurt the Delhi outfit.
However, Badani insisted that DC still had enough opportunities to qualify even without the Australian fast bowler.
“He is obviously a fabulous player. He is obviously somebody who has done exceedingly well in all formats and him not being available to us for the first nine games does hamper our progress. But I think on the whole, even without him, we had our moments.
“Even without him, we had our chances to qualify. Yes, Starc does make a huge difference. But I think as a side, I genuinely feel that if we had played those small, small, little, little margins and if we had seized those little margins, we would have still been alive in the tournament,” he said.
DC and Punjab Kings remain the only two original IPL teams yet to lift the IPL trophy. The Capitals’ best finish came in 2020 when they ended runners-up after reaching their maiden final. They lost to Mumbai Indians by five wickets in that edition.
