IPL 2026: Capitals look to continue winning momentum; Shubman Gill set to return for Titans

GT skipper Shubman Gill during their match against PBKS in New Chandigarh recently. Pics/IPL

As an upbeat Delhi Capitals host second-last placed Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday, their bowling coach Munaf Patel wants his team to go for more wickets in the Powerplay. DC have bagged two out of two wins so far in this IPL while GT have lost both their games.

Skipper Shubman Gill's return though should lift GT's spirits. He had missed the previous match against Rajasthan Royals (April 4) due to a muscle spasm, but is now fit and had a full net session on Tuesday.

GT opener Sai Sudharsan, expressed confidence in his team's middle-order to help the team bounce back. "It's a mixture of both… as opening batters and top three batters, if someone plays longer, it's always a great thing for the team. We believe in our middle order, they will [come good]. This is the same team that qualified [for the playoffs] last year. It's just two games and the whole team believes that we will definitely have a great middle order and win games. We look back at the two games and have learnt a lot for sure. We will look forward to getting our first win and carry that momentum forward," Sudharsan, who has scored 86 runs in two games so far and was the leading run-getter in IPL 2025, said at the match-eve press conference.

DC's Sameer Rizvi during his 90 against MI in New Delhi recently

DC bowling coach Munaf explained how early wickets help: "If you take wickets in the first six overs, then you don't have the opposition getting to 200, because if you're scoring under 40-42, it's very difficult to go above 200, unless the bowling is very bad in the last six overs."

While DC's confidence is up, there is a bit of worry with their top order. KL Rahul has failed to take off in both previous matches as has Nitish Rana. Opener Pathum Nissanka did score runs in the second match, but it's been Sameer Rizvi, who has come in as Impact Player and done well. He scored 70 not out in the first match against LSG and 90 against MI in the second match. Patel said that Rizvi will continue to be Impact Sub. "My opinion is that it's easy for us to use the Impact Player. I don't believe that you should change a winning team," he said.

Rain has been forecast across the next two days in the capital though and sporadic showers may affect the game.

2
No. of consecutive wins for Gujarat Titans over Delhi Capitals

Why DC have two wins from two games

Tight bowling performances: In both their games, DC had easier targets to chase after they restricted their opponents to modest totals (LSG to 141, MI to 162) due to good contributions from all bowlers.

Resilient batting: Even though DC lost early wickets in both run chases (26-4 vs LSG and 7-2 vs MI), they bounced back in the middle stage to get over the line due to their middle order standing up when it mattered most.

Solid Impact Player: Sameer Rizvi helping DC find the necessary firepower after losing early wickets in both matches. His twin fifties (70 not out vs LSG and 90 vs MI) earned him two Man-of-the-Match awards.

Why GT have zero wins from two games

Not enough power-hitting: The GT middle order, couldn't get past a strike-rate of 150 vs PBKS, leaving them at 162-6. Against RR, every batter except Sai Sudharsan (73 off 44) was out under 30.

Poor finishing: The GT batters struggled to get the finishing touches vs RR as they failed to get 11 off the last over by RR pacer Tushar Against PBKS, the last five overs of GT's batting only accounted for just 34 runs.

Bowling woes: After posting a 163-run target, GT failed to dismiss PBKS's Cooper Connolly (73'). Kagiso Rabada economy was 11.33 and Ashok Sharma (10.33). Against RR, GT bowlers gave away as many as 210 runs.