DC’s failure to utilise their Impact Player better left them short of both batting and bowling options — and Gujarat Titans capitalised in a clinical chase.
Delhi Capitals’ loss to Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2025 clash came down to one tactical mistake — a misjudged use of the Impact Player — which left them short of both batting insurance and bowling resources at crucial junctures of the game.
DC dropped Jake Fraser-McGurk due to a poor run of form, going in with only six proper batters. With Faf du Plessis injured, they were forced to reshuffle their batting order and sent out Abishek Porel and Karun Nair to open. Their preference to hold Tristan Stubbs back for the death overs meant Axar Patel had to walk in during the Powerplay when two early wickets fell.
Stubbs’ dismissal in the 15th over exposed the lack of depth further. Ashutosh Sharma and Axar were left to finish the innings — with Axar far from ideal an option to finish a game. When Axar and Vipraj Nigam fell at the start of the 18th over, DC had a choice: either bring in Donovan Ferreira as their Impact Player to bolster the batting, or hold him back and get an extra bowling option. They chose the former — but Ferreira only faced three balls — and it had a ripple effect.
This Impact Player call meant DC had to rely on part-timers and under-par matchup bowlers during Gujarat Titans’ chase. Despite posting a strong 203/8 on a good surface, DC couldn’t close it out.
Jos Buttler was central to GT’s chase with an unbeaten 97 off 54 balls, but the game-turning phase was his partnership with Sherfane Rutherford, who added 119 in 69 balls. And it was DC’s plan — particularly against Rutherford — that came apart.
Rutherford walked in when Kuldeep Yadav had just started and DC had control. The plan was clear — Kuldeep, along with KL Rahul and Axar, crafted a trap based on Rutherford’s known struggles against left-arm wrist spin. Before this match, Rutherford had scored just 36 runs off 38 balls against this type of bowling, with four dismissals, averaging 9.0 and striking at under 95.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Balls Faced | 38 balls |
| Runs Scored | 36 |
| Dismissals | 4 |
| Batting Average | 9.00 |
| Strike Rate | 94.7 |
The field placements hinted at an off-stump strategy: two behind square on the off-side, a slip brought in, and visual cues from Rahul and Kuldeep reinforcing the plan. Ball one was a faster googly on the stumps, contrary to what the gestures indicated to Rutherford — defended. Ball two turned away after pitching, continuing the illusion that their plan was indeed to bowl outside his off-stump. Before ball three, more animated gestures reinforced the bluff. Kuldeep tossed another wrong ‘un on the stumps, but Rutherford read it from the pitch and rotated strike.
In the next over, the same mind games resumed. Axar moved from mid-wicket to cover to signal that the plan was still to bowl wide. But Kuldeep erred too far outside off, and Rutherford pounced with a boundary. Another googly followed, but Rutherford calmly took a single.
While DC were busy bluffing, GT read the situation better. They recognised that DC, having used Ferreira as their Impact Player, had limited resources in the middle overs beyond Kuldeep and Axar, who was a risky option as long as Rutherford was batting. Dushmantha Chameera — perfect for this phase with an economy of 7.52 in middle overs since 2020 — was on the bench.
Without him, DC had to bowl Mohit Sharma and Vipraj Nigam — neither of whom could keep Buttler or Rutherford in check. Mohit conceded 18 in an over; Vipraj gave away 10 despite trying to follow similar wide-line plans to Rutherford, only to gift fuller balls to Buttler.
ALSO READ:
Forced into a corner, DC brought back Starc earlier than planned. They had avoided changing the ball too, hoping it would reverse for Starc later. But with two overs from Mohit and Vipraj going for 28 runs, they had no margin for error and had to bring their strike bowler back.
Eventually, Mukesh Kumar did dismiss Rutherford with a wide full toss, but the damage had already been done. The ball change was made at this point, but the game had drifted well away already. DC couldn’t keep Rutherford on strike for long enough to let Kuldeep work on him with the googly. And by being overly defensive, they left Buttler free to pick off the weaker bowlers.
The game ended with Rahul Tewatia finishing it off in style against Starc. But the root of DC’s defeat lay much earlier — in their Impact Player call and their inability to manage resources across 40 overs.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
![[WATCH] 14 Year Old Vaibhav Suryavanshi Announces Himself With a No-Look SIX off 1st Ball on IPL Debut in RR vs LSG IPL 2025 Game](https://cricxtasy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/vinta-600x400.jpg)
![[WATCH] Abdul Samad Plays Perfect Finisher’s Role With Four Sixes in Last Over During RR vs LSG IPL 2025 Clash](https://cricxtasy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/asamy-600x338.webp)
