All posts tagged: Delhi Capitals IPL 2026

Axar Patel talks of Delhi Capitals’ next year and changes amid team’s disappointing IPL 2026 season

Axar Patel talks of Delhi Capitals’ next year and changes amid team’s disappointing IPL 2026 season

Published by Webster

4 min readMay 9, 2026 12:53 PM IST With their fourth loss in a row, an eight-wicket drubbing at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals now find themselves in eighth place on the points table with as many points from 11 matches. With only a mathematical chance of qualifying for the playoffs, relying on other results and permutations to go their way, Delhi is staring at a deeply disappointing IPL campaign. Captain Axar Patel admitted that the team has a long journey ahead and said they would begin thinking about plans for next year, including what changes can be made. “For now, we’ll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there’s still a long journey ahead, and next year will come too. So we’ll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take. Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make,” Patel …

Venugopal Rao rues poor form of Axar, Kuldeep as DC near IPL 2026 exit

Venugopal Rao rues poor form of Axar, Kuldeep as DC near IPL 2026 exit

Published by Webster

4 min readUpdated: May 9, 2026 07:19 AM IST “Eighteen years, obviously, it hurts.” ​Delhi Capitals director of cricket Venugopala Rao has endured a lean run with the franchise as a player a decade ago. It was the Daredevils back then, when Rao was part of a squad that bagged the wooden spoon twice between 2011 and 2013. ​A stinging eight-wicket loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, a fifth in succession at home, put the Capitals all but out of Playoffs contention, extending the wait for the elusive title by another season. ​“I think today also, when we got a good start, we couldn’t capitalise. In this kind of tournament, you can’t miss those patches. Eighteen years, obviously, it hurts. Seriously, when you look back, when I played during my days, I always wanted to win from the Daredevils’ time to now. It’s a learning process for me. Coming into the administration part, I’m still learning a lot of things,” said Rao, who took over the role with the franchise last year. ​While …

The four people who built his innings before he faced a ball

The four people who built his innings before he faced a ball

Published by Webster

5 min readMumbaiApr 2, 2026 03:26 PM IST Tankeeb Akhtar is a failed cricketer who couldn’t let go of the game. When he saw talent in his young nephew Sameer Rizvi, whose match-winning 70 not out got Delhi Capitals off to a winning start in the IPL on Wednesday, he wanted the boy to play for India. Sameer’s father Haseen wanted him to stop. “Mat bigaad usey, khud ki tarah mat bana, cricket se kya mila tujhe.” Don’t spoil him. Don’t make him like you. What did cricket ever give you? For years, Tankeeb was not welcome in his sister’s house. He kept coming to the ground instead — with his nephew. “If I think, maybe there would be barely 14 days in the past 14 years when Mamu wasn’t with me at the ground,” Sameer would tell this newspaper. The brother-in-law relented when Sameer, at sixteen, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh. Haseen had suffered a brain haemorrhage days before it. When Chennai Super Kings paid Rs 8.40 crore for the uncapped …

Rejuvenated Prithvi Shaw says he does not want to prove points

Rejuvenated Prithvi Shaw says he does not want to prove points

Published by Webster

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 25, 2026 11:12 PM IST Prithvi Shaw’s season away from the IPL was one of flux. Time was spent away with family, reflecting on disappointments. State allegiances shifted from Mumbai to Maharashtra after he was dropped, unjustifiably in his eyes. It was the first prolonged period away from the limelight he had been in since he was a teenager. A return to the premier franchise league, with the team he spent seven seasons previously, may have lit a fire in the 26-year-old batter. But on the eve of what could be a decisive tournament for his future at the highest level of cricket, he insists he is not out to prove a point. “I enjoyed life for a bit. Travelled to refresh my mind. But when I came back, I did not change routines. Just worked hard on the same methods,” Shaw told reporters gathered at Delhi Capitals’ training session at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds on Wednesday. “The only difference was that I put in three times the amount …