Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2026 campaign is rapidly slipping away, and captain Axar Patel did little to hide the disappointment after his side suffered a humiliating defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders. With Delhi now losing five of their last six matches, they are on the brink of elimination, needing a near-perfect finish and favourable results elsewhere to stay alive in the playoff race.
The heavy defeat exposed the growing cracks in Delhi’s campaign, both with the bat and ball. Chasing relevance in the tournament, the Capitals instead looked short on confidence and ideas as KKR dominated the contest from start to finish. The result has left Delhi with almost no margin for error in the remaining league matches.
Axar Patel shifts focus towards future plans after KKR defeat
Speaking after the match, Axar’s comments reflected a dressing room already beginning to think beyond the current season. While he stopped short of officially conceding elimination, the Delhi skipper admitted the team would now evaluate mistakes and possibly use the remaining games to test players waiting on the bench.
According to Axar, the management now needs to assess what went wrong during the campaign and simultaneously prepare for the future. He suggested that with the season nearing its end, Delhi could hand opportunities to fringe players to identify combinations and individuals who may play a bigger role next year.
“Yes, now we’ll go and think about what mistakes we made. After that, yes, what is there now? There is still a long time, next year is also coming. So what plan can we make for next year, what can we think of? In that sense, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and see who should get a chance and what we can do,” Axar said in the post-match presentation.
Batting collapse once again hurts Delhi
Delhi Capitals never truly recovered after a disastrous middle-order collapse while batting first. In a match they desperately needed to win, the side could only post 142 runs, a target that looked underwhelming on a batting-friendly surface. Axar admitted that losing wickets in clusters completely shifted the momentum away from Delhi. The skipper felt that the side failed to absorb pressure during crucial phases, allowing KKR to seize control of the contest.
He also acknowledged that Delhi’s bowlers, especially the spinners, failed to execute their plans during the chase. The lack of control in the middle overs allowed KKR opener Finn Allen to dictate terms with an explosive unbeaten century. Allen’s fearless strokeplay dismantled Delhi’s attack as KKR chased down the target comfortably in just 14.2 overs, boosting their own playoff ambitions while pushing Delhi closer to elimination.
“I think we set a low target and at the same time there were a lot of mistakes from the spinners. The way they stepped up, I think the mistake was from the spinners. But at the same time, if you look at it, when we lost five wickets in two or three overs, I think the momentum went away from us,” added Axar.
DC on verge of elimination
Notably, DC’s playoff hopes are now hanging by the thinnest of threads after their crushing defeat to KKR. With five losses in their last six matches, DC must win all their remaining league games to stay in contention. However, even finishing on 14 points may not guarantee qualification this season, meaning the franchise will also have to rely heavily on favourable results from other teams. Their inconsistent batting and repeated middle-order collapses have left them in a difficult position at the business end of IPL 2026.
