Delhi Capitals (DC) began their IPL 2025 campaign with four wins in a row. They lost just the one match in their first six outings. But the 59-run loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Wednesday was their fifth defeat in last six completed matches. That meant they missed out on the last playoffs spot.
Hemang Badani, DC head coach, said that one of the reasons they were knocked out was their opening batting pair. Even in their successful run at the start of the season, DC used three opening pairs:
Faf du Plessis and
Jake Fraser-McGurk, Fraser-McGurk and
KL Rahul, and
Abishek Porel and Fraser-McGurk. By the time their campaign ended, they had used a further four new opening combinations. DC's openers averaged
19.23 in the season, the lowest among all teams.
"A settled opening pair is only possible when your opening pair gives you a start," Badani said in Mumbai. "If you don't get starts, you are bound to make changes to try and fill that gap, fill that void. While other sides have had great powerplay with the bat, we haven't had those, unfortunately. Opening at the top was a worry for us."