Former Australian captain Aaron Finch has slammed Delhi Capitals (DC) over their decision to bat first after winning the toss in the IPL 2026 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Finch opined that the call made no sense at all given how DC have struggled while batting first in the tournament.
DC‘s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs suffered a major jolt as they went down to CSK by eight wickets in match number 48 of IPL 2026 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, May 5. Batting first after winning the toss, DC were held to 155-7, a total CSK chased down in 17.3 overs.
During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo Timeout, Finch was extremely critical about the lack of tactical awareness in DC’s leadership group. He commented:
“A big mess-up. You can’t sugarcoat it any easier than that. You’ve got all the information in front of you. They haven’t won batting first. Makes no sense. We keep scratching our heads with some decisions that DC make. I can understand if you are making calls on the field on the fly. You are making a gut feel call. But when you have got all the information in front of you, that’s when you shouldn’t be making mistakes.
“You can understand poor execution, winning and losing. That’s professional sport, but when it comes down to black and white decisions that you are getting wrong time and time again, that’s a concern.” Finch went on to add.
DC lost half their side for 69 in 11 overs after deciding to bat first. Tristan Stubbs (38 off 31) and Sameer Rizvi (40* off 24) pushed them past 150, but the total proved rather inadequate.
“Bit of an up-and-down curve” – Hemang Badani on DC’s home struggles
DC have played five matches at Arun Jaitley Stadium in IPL 2026, winning just one. Head coach Hemang Badani admitted that the franchise has struggled to come to terms with the surfaces being prepared at ‘home’. Speaking at the post-match press conference, he commented:
“We don’t have any control over the surfaces. There is a clear mandate from the BCCI that they look after the surfaces and they are the ones who ensure that there’s no local side that gets benefit out of the surfaces. So you play what is presented to you. And yes, it’s 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.”
DC’s next match at Arun Jaitley Stadium will be against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 8.
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Edited by Renin Wilben Albert