Delhi Capitals have a new opening combination which hasn’t worked in their favour so far in Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). KL Rahul has been elevated as DC’s new opener after being used in multiple positions in the previous season. However, he has failed so far, registering scores of 0 and 1 in the first two games. His partner Pathum Nissanka, who made his IPL debut against LSG earlier this month, has been largely inconsistent, having scored 1 and 44.
And then comes Nitish Rana at number 3, who is yet to display his full potential. Scores of 15 and 0 aren’t something that a veteran like Rana would want to boast of. As a result of the failures of the top three batters, the pressure falls on the rest of DC’s batting unit. Thankfully, on both occasions when majority of the top-order batters failed, it was Sameer Rizvi who stepped up and delivered match-winning performances. However, that cannot be the case always. Among the top three batters, Rahul is the most experienced. And he needs to channelize that, bring out his best in order to break the deadlock for DC.
KL Rahul needs to bring back IPL 2025 mode again
IPL 2025 isn’t Rahul’s best season in the league, for his 670-run season from 2020/21 is the standout. But 2025 was one season where he showed aggression, something which was lacking since 2019. In the previous edition of the tournament, KL finished with 539 runs to his name, boasting of a strike rate of 149.72, and averaged 53.90. That strike rate is his second best, with the highest coming way back in 2018 where he finished at 158.41 for PBKS.
Statement knocks such as an unbeaten 112 against GT, an unbeaten 93-run-knock against RCB, an unbeaten 57-run-knock against LSG in IPL 2025 is just what KL Rahul needs to do in order to solve DC’s top-order woes. It is very well documented that Rahul isn’t a flamboyant T20 player and likes to take his time to settle down and anchor the innings rather than playing the role of an aggressor. And that is precisely what the franchise needs now.
Mind you, Rahul has the best figures as an opener in the IPL. 3350 runs have come while he has batted at number 1 while 1069 runs while batting at number 2 out of the 8126 runs that he amassed in IPL so far. The numbers very well prove that he is capable to excelling at the top of the order. It’s just that he needs to shake off his poor form, reform his approach and get back to doing what he is best at.
DC have won 2 games on the trot but it won’t be an easy task against GT on Wednesday. And for the team to do well, both openers, in particular KL Rahul needs to go all guns blazing.
