IPL 2025: Why Delhi Capitals collapsed after a stunning start to the competition
Batting inconsistencies come back to haunt DC
The Delhi Capitals kicked off their 2025 Indian Premier League campaign in the best way possible, surging to the top of the standings in the first few weeks by rattling off four consecutive victories, which confirmed several of our IPL predictions.
After a testing opening encounter against LSG, which they won by one wicket, DC made light work of SRH and CSK, beating them by seven wickets and 25 runs, respectively, before overcoming eventual tournament winners RCB by six wickets in their fourth match.
However, a 12-run defeat to the Mumbai Indians on April 13 proved to be the catalyst for a shift in their momentum. Following that loss to Mumbai, Delhi only managed to win three of their final nine games in the competition, which saw them miss out on a Playoff spot by one point.
Chief among the Capital’s downturn in form was inconsistent batting performances, with Faf du Plessis fading after a strong start, while the likes of Karun Nair and Ashutosh Sharma failed to build on impressive knocks from earlier in the competition.
Constant reshuffling of their top order also threw the team off balance in the mid-season, and the lack of a guaranteed opening duo proved costly, as they were unable to make solid starts to matches - their lack of big-hitters at the death didn’t help matters much either.
Bowling attack rebuild needed for next season
While the Delhi Capitals may point to their batting inconsistencies as the key aspect behind their collapse, the team’s bowling unit certainly did not do much to help the situation, even when defending big totals.
DC’s head coach Hemang Badani did not shy away from the criticism of his team's performance after their elimination from the competition. In an interview with the media, he said:
"To some extent, we've also had games where we genuinely felt that we could have won, and we just didn't finish those games. If you want to win this competition, if you want to go to the playoffs, you want to ideally finish off games. And if you don't, then you have no one else to blame but yourself."
Mitchell Starc began the competition very well, but faded in mid-season, and after opting not to return following the league’s stoppage, DC’s pace attack looked to be lacking the zip that the Aussie left-armer provides, particularly in the death overs.
Kuldeep Yadav did his best to lead the attack with the ball, but he lacked support from those around him, with Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan and Dushmantha Chameera all failing to make an impact on a consistent basis.
By the end of the tournament, the Capitals' highest wicket-taker was Yadav with 15 scalps, but that was only good for 17th place in the Purple Cap standings, 10 fewer than the eventual winner of the award, Prasidh Krishna of the Gujarat Titans.
Above everything, the 2025 IPL reminded everyone that a strong start does not always translate into success, which was further illustrated by the Mumbai Indians losing four of their first five matches but coming romping back to reach the Playoffs before losing to the Punjab Kings in the Eliminator.
