IPL 2026: ‘It’s crunch time now, so we perform or perish’

Hemang Badani. Pic/IPL

On a slow batting wicket at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday night, hosts Delhi Capitals surprisingly decided to bat first and then suffered a batting meltdown and eventually lost to Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. DC head coach Hemang Badani blamed his team's inconsistency for their collective failure, citing shortcomings in previous matches too.

There was nothing to celebrate for the DC fans, had it not been for a 65-run stand for sixth wicket between Tristan Stubbs (38) and Sameer Rizvi (40 not out) they would've struggled to get past that 150 mark (155-7). CSK reached the target in 17.3 overs thanks mainly to wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson's unbeaten 52-ball 87 (7x4s, 6x6s).

DC's decision to bat first surprised many, including Australia skipper Aaron Finch. "It [batting first] was a big mess up. You can't sugarcoat it, they haven't won batting first, it made no sense," Finch said on ESPNCricinfo.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Badani admitted his team must do better. "Collectively, we need to play better. In one game, we scored 265 [vs Punjab Kings] and could not defend it. In another, we lost by one run [vs Gujarat Titans]. It's been inconsistent. One day we bowl well, but don't bat well; another day we bat well, but fall short in another area. At this level, you need at least 60 to 70 per cent of your players contributing on a given day. That's been missing," Badani said before adding, "It's crunch time now [four matches left]. We either perform or perish," Badani added.

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No. of wins for DC in 10 IPL matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium since 2025