After the Delhi Capitals’ (DC) defeat in their IPL 2026 clash against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the Delhi-based franchise about their players’ utilization. He highlighted that Sameer Rizvi, who was struggling a little against seamers, was repeatedly being sent against fast bowlers in earlier games and was kept in the Impact Player list on a spin-friendly pitch against CSK.
DC posted 155/7 after opting to bat first in Match 48 of IPL 2026 in Delhi on Tuesday, May 5. CSK achieved the target with eight wickets and 15 balls to spare to hand the home team their sixth defeat in their last eight games.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter opined that DC haven’t used their players effectively in IPL 2026, highlighting Rizvi‘s utilization in their last few games.
“Sameer Rizvi was doing well at the start. Then he struggled a little against fast bowlers, but they kept sending him in front of fast bowlers. After that, when it was a spin-friendly pitch, you kept Sameer Rizvi out in the Impact Player list,” he said.
Chopra pointed out that DC used Abishek Porel ahead of Karun Nair as the Impact Player on a seam-friendly pitch against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and kept the latter ahead of Rizvi in the starting XI on a spin-friendly pitch against CSK.
“Where the ball was seaming, you sent Abishek Porel as the Impact Sub vs RCB, and you didn’t send Karun Nair. You kept Karun Nair in the team on a spin-friendly pitch and kept Sameer Rizvi out. I have no idea how you do this?” Chopra observed.
Karun Nair scored a run-a-ball 13 and was dismissed by Noor Ahmad in DC’s IPL 2026 clash against CSK. Sameer Rizvi came in as the Impact Player in Tuesday’s game and smashed an unbeaten 40 off 24 balls.
“Was it not right to continue with Miller and Stubbs?” – Aakash Chopra on DC opening with Pathum Nissanka in IPL 2026 clash vs CSK
In the same video, Aakash Chopra questioned the Delhi Capitals for not persisting with David Miller alongside Tristan Stubbs in the middle order by using either Prithvi Shaw or Abishek Porel as an opener instead of Pathum Nissanka.
“If you have two Indian openers in Prithvi Shaw and Abishek Porel, was it not right to continue with Miller and Stubbs? You had many top-order options available. I know Pathum Nissanka had done well in the previous game, but it wasn’t required. You could have managed without that. You went on a very different route,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Axar Patel‘s underperformance with both bat and ball and Kuldeep Yadav’s lean run with the ball are also hurting DC.
“Axar Patel not scoring runs is a huge problem. In fact, he is having a very cold IPL, and you can say now that Kuldeep is also having a very cold IPL because they are bowling four overs apiece now, but they are getting thrashed. The way they are playing, it’s a classic case of having resources, but those resources not being used properly,” Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra also questioned the Delhi Capitals for preparing a spin-friendly pitch for their IPL 2026 clash against the Chennai Super Kings. He highlighted that the surface allowed Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad to come into the game.
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Edited by Kartik Iyer