Delhi Capitals (DC) strongest playing 11 for IPL 2026 after mini auction

During the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals (DC) had two halves of the campaign. They ended the tournament in fifth position in the event with seven victories in 14 clashes at a net run rate of +0.111. However, they could have sweetly progressed into the playoffs, having won five of the last six encounters.

Meanwhile, they faced five defeats in the last six fixtures of the competition, which saw the Axar Patel-led side lose the momentum and fail to qualify for the event. For the franchise, their opening batter and the wicket-keeper, KL Rahul, was the biggest contributor with the help of 539 runs in 13 innings at an average of 53.90 and a strike rate of 149, thanks to three fifties and one century.

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Abhishek Porel was equally good at the top for his decent performance of 301 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 146.82 with the help of one century, while Tristan Stubbs has slammed 300 runs in 13 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of over 150 with the best score of undefeated 41 runs.

Delhi Capitals’ strongest playing 11 for IPL 2026 after mini auction

The Capitals started the auction with the signing of David Miller for the base price of INR 2 crore and ended it with another base price buy of Kyle Jamieson at INR 1.5 crore. In between, even with a small purse, they perhaps made use of the auction beautifully and got the required players.

DC full squad ahead of IPL 2026

KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Ben Duckett, Prithvi Shaw, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Pathum Nissanka, Ashutosh Sharma, David Miller, Sameer Rizvi, Sahil Parakh, Axar Patel, Vipraj Nigam, Kyle Jamieson, Auqib Nabi, Madhav Tiwari, T Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Lungi Ngidi, Dushmantha Chameera.

Rahul is anticipated to open with either Ben Duckett or Pathum Nissanka for the next season. All of those three players are suitable options for wicket-keeping. Even if they want, they can go with Prithvi Shaw at the opening position, which will open up an extra foreign slot for the Capitals at the top order.

At number three, Delhi can have Nitish Rana, followed by Tristan Stubbs at number four. Axar Patel will walk at number five in the batting order. One of the positions where the Capitals struggled in the last season of the IPL was their lower middle order. And this year, they will have the services of David Miller for the spot.

Both Stubbs and Miller can be brilliant spin hitters, along with their thunderbolt fielding, which is also an important aspect in the shortest format of the game. Ashutosh Sharma will walk at number seven along with Vipra Singh at 8.

There is no doubt of Mitchell Stark and T Natarajan being part of the playing 11 along with Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep’s four overs, along with Axar’s four, will take care of the middle overs for the Capitals. Natarajan could not do well in the death overs last season despite being paid INR 10 crore in the last season. He hopes to turn the tables this year.

If Delhi goes with one of the foreign players at the top, then they have to go with Auqib Nabi as the impact player. Otherwise, they will have the option of either picking Lungi Ngidi, Dushmantha Chameera, or Kyle Jamieson in the eleven.

DC’s strongest playing 11 for IPL 2026 after mini auction

KL Rahul (wk.), Ben Duckett/Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Auqib Nabi/Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc.

Impact Player: T Natarajan.