19 years later, Delhi Capitals (DC) are still aiming to end their title drought. DC made their IPL debut as Delhi Daredevils and have been part of every IPL season so far.
They have been one of the most underperforming teams in IPL’s history and only played one IPL final. They didn’t back their captain, who took them to the final and Shreyas Iyer played under Rishabh Pant’s captaincy in IPL 2021. He hasn’t played for DC since then. Following Pant’s exit, DC handed over the job to Axar Patel. Axar-led DC made a solid start to IPL 2025 and they became the first team to fetch 10 points.
It seems like DC had finally found the winning formula and a place in the playoffs seemed confirmed. Everything went wrong for them in the second half and they finished fifth in the points table with 15 points.
Axar is now a T20 World Cup-winning vice-captain and he will be high on confidence going into IPL 2026. His game has improved leaps and bounds over the past year. Under a more experienced captain, DC can finally change their fortunes in IPL 2026. Here, do their SWOT analysis before the season –
Strengths
DC have confirmed that KL Rahul will face the new ball. is one of the best openers in IPL and always delivers in the T20 league. Rahul’s presence at the top is a big positive for them. Apart from Rahul, DC have Nitish Rana, Ben Duckett and Prithvi Shaw at the top.
DC also have best finishers in Ashutosh Sharma and David Miller. Sameer Rizvi can also do the job if given regular opportunities. Mitchell Starc is always dangerous with the new ball and he will pose a big challenge for the opposition openers.
DC have an all-rounder captain in Axar, who can contribute in all departments of the game. From outside, it looks like DC have almost every base covered and they are among the best teams on paper.
Weaknesses
can terrorise any batting line-up, but his arrival date isn’t confirmed. Even the DC doesn’t know when Starc will land in India. Cricket Australia is managing his workload and hasn’t issued the NOC to him. The lack of experience in the bowling line-up is a cause of worry for DC. Apart from Starc, there is no other experienced pacer who can do the job in pressure situations.
Also, there are no marquee Indian pacers. Mukesh Kumar and T Natarajan are the only two capped pacers in DC’s squad. The fans have high hopes from Auqib Dar, who joined the franchise for Rs 8.40 crore.
Opportunity
The IPL 2026 season is an opportunity for Axar Patel to excel on the captaincy front and become the next in line to replace Suryakumar Yadav as the next T20I captain. Suryakumar is confirmed to lead India at least till the 2028 T20 World Cup. Axar is the vice-captain, but we have seen that the selectors can even drop a member of the if the situation demands. Axar will have to prove his captaincy skills in IPL.
For Auqib Dar, the upcoming season will be an opportunity to showcase his skills in white-ball cricket as well. He topped the wicket-taking charts in the Ranji Trophy and scalped 60 wickets in Jammu and Kashmir’s trophy-winning campaign.
Threats
The lack of experience in bowling is one of the biggest threats that can have a huge impact on DC. Starc’s unavailability is already a big blow to DC. DC also lacks reliable replacements who can deliver consistently. DC, even if they excel at the start, will have the challenge to continue their momentum.