Kamal Ghorui
Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani, faced tough questions regarding his team’s performance, and tactical decisions after their defeat to Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2026 on Tuesday.Delhi Capitals suffered a top-order collapse and failed to recover on a tricky Arun Jaitley Stadium surface, eventually losing to CSK by eight wickets. The defeat marked DC’s fourth loss of the season at their home ground. The Arun Jaitley Stadium has witnessed extreme variations in scoring this season, ranging from record-breaking chases to dramatic batting collapses.Here are DC’s result in their home ground Arun Jaitley stadium in IPL 2026:
| Date | Opponent | Result | Key Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 April | Mumbai Indians | Won by 6 wickets | Sameer Rizvi named Player of the Match |
| 8 April | Gujarat Titans | Lost by 1 run | GT scored 210/4; DC fell just short |
| 25 April | Punjab Kings | Lost by 6 wickets | PBKS chased down DC’s massive 264/2 |
| 27 April | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Lost by 9 wickets | DC bundled out for a season-low 75 runs |
| 5 May | Chennai Super Kings | Lost by 8 wickets | Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 87* guided CSK to victory |
Badani was questioned on whether the decision to bat first backfired on a difficult surface. Responding to the criticism, he explained that the franchise has very little control over the nature of the pitch prepared by the curator, despite Arun Jaitley Stadium being Delhi Capitals’ home venue.“We don’t have any control over the surfaces. It is a lot easier for a side to field 20 overs and then understand what the surface would be when they bat second, and that is pretty much what happened. I thought the game was lost in the first 10 overs when we didn’t get enough; we were about 70 for 5, and you don’t want to be 70 for 5 even if it is a tough surface. It has been a bit of an up-and-down curve for us to understand what we are going to get at Delhi, which is our home. One game was a 265, but there is little control that any side has on surfaces,” Hemang Badani said during post match press conference.
