Delhi Capitals have failed as a unit once again, losing their fourth game in the last five matches to all but crash out of the tournament. While there isn’t just one area of the game where Delhi have struggled, the lack of opportunities for players like Prithvi Shaw, who has performed well for the franchise in the past, left many surprised despite the batting unit’s struggles. While skipper Axar Patel has hinted at changes in the remaining three games of the season, the franchise’s Director of Cricket, Venugopal Rao, gave a blunt reply when asked about the lack of opportunities for Shaw.
Speaking on the biggest problems within the team at the moment, Venugopal had no qualms about throwing the team under the bus, stating that players are not taking enough responsibility.
“Responsibility; when things fail as a batting unit, you need to take responsibility. I’ll do it, rather than waiting for somebody else to do it. So, I think that is missing, I felt,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“Maybe we will see in the next couple of games how this batting unit turns out,” he added.
Venugopal was also asked about the team’s decision to deny a single opportunity to Prithvi Shaw, a player who has performed well for both the franchise and the Indian national team in the past. However, the DC Director of Cricket gave a sharp response, asking which of the two current openers-Pathum Nissanka or KL Rahul-should be dropped for Shaw.
“At the top of the order, whom do you want us to drop? Pathum or KL?” he asked.
Regarding skipper Axar Patel’s form, Venugopal admitted that seeing a World Cup winner like Axar go through such a poor run of form hurts, but he is not giving up on him.
“We always want a captain, a person like him who has been in two World Cup-winning squads, coming into this tournament. Regarding his form, we definitely always want him to do well. Somewhere, I think, he lost his form. I hope he comes back in the next three games. So, it hurt.
“Obviously, when you look back at today’s opposition, some of the seniors couldn’t perform. So, we need to face the music,” he responded.
The Delhi Capitals are mathematically still in the race for the IPL 2026 play-offs. They have four wins in eleven matches, with three more games to go. If they win their remaining three matches, they have a slight chance of making it to the play-offs. However, for that to happen, other results must also fall in their favour.
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