Delhi Capitals have a few options but need an overseas opener.
Delhi Capitals (DC) retained as many as 16 players from their previous squad and traded Nitish Rana in for Donovan Ferreira ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Their idea was to keep most of the Indian core, most of whom contributed to their success in the first half of IPL 2025, and settle the overseas slots with obvious options. DC have one of the strongest local talents in the squad.
However, they might have an issue at the top, despite having as many as four quality options to work with. Their current options are KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Nitish Rana, and Karun Nair. There’s also Sameer Rizvi, who boasts superior capabilities vs spin.
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Despite having superior capabilities, all four top-order options in the Delhi Capitals are either slow starters or have certain issues. They might open with KL Rahul and Abishek Porel, both of whom don’t complement each other. Rahul is a slow starter, while Abishek has limitations against spinners.
Since 2024, Rahul has had a strike rate of 124.19 and a boundary% of 17.33 in the first 10 balls in IPL. Additionally, he plays around 40.72% of dot balls. His powerplay strike rate of 135.32 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 4.91 don’t match the usual lofty standards set by other openers.
Meanwhile, Abishek has a strike rate of 159.04 and a boundary% of 25.23 in the first 10 balls since 2024. However, most of those runs have come against pacers, while spinners have heavily restricted his scoring rate. His strike rate and boundary% against slow bowlers reduce to 111.11 and 11.11, respectively.
Even overall, Abishek averages a mere 17.54 and strikes at a tepid 133.10 against spinners in IPL since 2024. So, teams can easily restrict these two by introducing spin early and disabling them from maximising powerplay. Nitish Rana can counter spin, but he hardly opens and has not opened since 2022.
Rana last opened in 2021 and has played only 12 innings as an opener in his T20 career. Even Karun Nair is a middle-order batter and can’t be trusted to be the aggressor as an opener. He is not an elite T20 batter and, at best, works in the upper middle order.
Currently, the Delhi Capitals have only three overseas players and can afford to spend the remaining budget on foreign options. Their priority should be to get an ultra-aggressive opener who can maximise the powerplay and bat briskly. DC had Jake Fraser-McGurk and Faf du Plessis for the role, but both have regressed lately, forcing the team to search for alternatives.
The best fit would be Finn Allen, who brings precisely what the Capitals need at the moment: a high-attacking game with big boundary%. Since 2024, Allen has had a strike rate of 171.70 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 3.42 in the powerplay. He torments pace and spin equally and has recently worked on consistency while maintaining the same tempo.
The decks in Delhi have been flat in the last two seasons, and more flat surfaces are expected now. He will get value for his shots and can do what McGurk did in the 2024 season. Once he provides a rapid start, his job will be over, and other spin and pace hitters in the middle and lower middle order will see the innings through.
Another option can be Matthew Short, who thwacks pace at will and is naturally an opener. However, he can have issues against spinners, like Abishek, which might again bring the same trouble. He has recently shown some improvements by batting with higher intent, but that might not be enough with Rahul around.
A dark horse option for the Delhi Capitals is Tim Seifert, who has improved massively against spinners since last year. In the powerplay, he has a strike rate of 156.76 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 3.84. More importantly, his strike rate and boundary% vs spin have surged to 154.64 and 20.84, respectively, this year, compared to 125.15 and 13.83 in the previous two years.
So, Seifert can be the aggressor in the powerplay and shield one of Rahul or Abishek. If DC get one of Allen or Seifert, Rahul can go down in the order since Abishek won’t require a shield against spinners anymore. In fact, his high-attacking intent will help the Capitals get the maximum from the powerplay, with two aggressive batters going hard after the bowlers during the field restrictions.
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