- May 22, 2025
How can we forget how the Delhi Capitals were strutting around in IPL 2025 like absolute kings – like emperors, they started the competition with four wins in 4 attempts, demolishing the powerplays, and seemingly tipped to win the title? So, do we remember that? How about this – if the end of the competition was bad, then that great start is probably feeling far away. The Delhi Capitals not only lost form but imploded. To start well and not make the playoffs was disappointing, to say the least, and soul-crushing to fans. Let’s have a look at what Washington may regret the most this crazy season for Delhi.
The KL Rahul Conundrum: Square Peg in a Round Hole
When you have a player like KL Rahul, you’re going to play him where he is the most successful. At the top of the order, you don’t have to do that; it is logical. Why did Delhi continue to put him into the middle order? We may never know. The trend was bound to fail, denying the team great starts, and instead, had Rahul looking to salvage innings rather than start them.
Even with over 500 runs this season, Rahul’s major contributions were often stifled by his arriving at a time when the scorecard was under pressure. The non-negotiable chemistry of a batting group relies heavily on role clarity, and DC completely squandered the chance of putting their best batter into the most amount of balls in the order of their batting order. If even the opposition specialists are lost through your lunacy, perhaps it is time to question decisions.
The Rahul Reliance: A Recipe for Collapse
Here is a brutal stat: after KL Rahul’s 500+ runs, the next best DC batter was Ishan Porel, who scored just a little above 300. Such a drop-off is staggering in a format where teams frequently rely on multiple sources of firepower. Rahul was the only batter, similar to Atlas carrying the skies; however, cricket (and T20 especially) is a team sport.
Abhishek Porel had some bright spots, and there were snippets of Stubs, but that is all it was—snippets. The main thing missing was consistency. If someone wasn’t stepping up in the middle order, DC’s fate was often recoverable. The absence at times of Axar Patel was detrimental too, as he played a role as a finisher and a spinner, leaving some balance to the side.
To be a team vying for the title, there needs to be more than one match-winner in the XI. Delhi needed someone else to be their form of Glenn Maxwell or a Suryakumar Yadav-type figure—someone who could flip a game in a heartbeat. What was missing was a Firestarter.
Playing Musical Chairs with the Lineup
Selection inconsistency is a silent killer in T20 leagues. And DC played musical chairs all season. From omitting overseas heavyweights and putting a few inexperienced domestic players in inopportune situations (hello, Advit Tiwari), the selection caused more head shakes than hand claps.
One isolated choice that seemed particularly odd was not to even bowl Tiwari in an important match: he was named in the XI only to not bowl a ball. If he is never going to bowl, why pick him instead of someone like Karunakaran, who has proven himself on much harder tracks? There were not just poor tactical decisions at play – there was confusion projected by these confusing selections.
Delhi Capitals 2025 will be remembered as the team that had everything in their favour – momentum, star power, early wins – and went awry. The misuse of Rahul, inconsistent middle-order contributions, strange selections, etc., all came together in the perfect storm.
So, DC fans, what would you have done differently? Drop your thoughts below, because Delhi needs a fresh outlook.
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