The Delhi Capitals (DC) feature what may be the finest spin assault in the 2025 Indian Premier League thanks to Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Vipraj Nigam. Given that Axar and Nigam’s all-around abilities provide their batting order depth and allow them six bowling options without requiring much thought, are DC also the most balanced team in the competition?
Following their victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) under KL Rahul, Sanjay Bangar and Piyush Chawla implied that the Capitals were still in the running but weren’t quite there yet.
Bangar stated, “Good bowling attack, they still have some issues at the top of the order,” on the TimeOut program on ESPNcricinfo. “They haven’t gotten the expected results from top order. However, KL Rahul and [Tristan] Stubbs are undoubtedly a team to keep an eye on because it’s Stubbs’ second consecutive season in which he’s really delivering the goods for them.”
Chawla concurred. “They appear to be a well-rounded side, but there’s always room for growth. You can’t rely on [Mitchell] Starc and Mukesh [Kumar] all the time, so I’ll say the fast-bowling department just feels like they might get a few wickets with the new ball. Spinners must join the celebration when they bowl during the powerplay.
Regarding the top of the batting order, they are correct.
With an average of 11.50, Jake-Fraser McGurk has opened in each of DC’s four games thus far. The other two in the top three, Abishek Porel and Faf du Plessis, all have half-century between them and likewise average in their 20s. Rahul had to perform a miracle against RCB after dropping back to No. 4 after being promoted to open against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the previous game, he also led from the top of the order when du Plessis was not there.
They have 17 wickets between Starc and Kuldeep, who bowl well, but Phil Salt hammered 30 off a Starc over and 16 off an Axar over during Thursday’s powerplay. After dismissing Virat Kohli and later helping Kuldeep to destroy RCB’s middle order and reduce them to 125 for 7, DC mounted a valiant comeback, winning by six wickets.
‘A terrific find’ is Vipraj Nigam.
Along with his bowling prowess, Nigam’s batting prowess has underscored the significance of homegrown talent emerging in the 2025 Indian Premier League, according to former India fast Varun Aaron.
Aaron posted on JioStar, “Vipraj was fantastic tonight; he’s a great find for Delhi Capitals.” “We’ve seen that he can be devastating with the bat in addition to his contributions with the ball. In the future, he will be a wonderful return on the Delhi Capitals’ investment. In order to assist their clubs win the IPL, we need more domestic players like him to stand forward.”
To stop RCB at 163 for 7, Nigam and Kuldeep completed with 2 for 18 and 2 for 17, respectively. In the eight overs between them, they bowled 23 dots. That helped DC win, but Stubbs was concerned as he watched them work.
“I went in at the break thinking ‘how are we going to make a run here’,” Stubbs, who later played Rahul’s ideal second fiddle in the chase, stated during the press conference held after the game. “I thought, ‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ since it seemed like it was incredibly difficult to bat. However, that merely demonstrates that all three of them are elite spinners. Kuldeep is currently one of the greatest, if not the best, in the world.
Stubbs: “You feel confident if you can make it through net sessions.”
Drawing on his international experience, Stubbs, who bats in the middle order for South Africa’s white-ball teams and in the top order for their Test team, stitched a match-winning 111-run partnership with Rahul. His 38 not in 23 balls wasn’t a negligible contribution.
“I think my roles recently have been so different, like face the new ball in Test cricket and then, I feel like international cricket can still sort of be classed as old-school cricket because the scores aren’t as big as they are here [in the IPL], so you’re always that space,” he stated. “You simply rely on prior experiences, and when they’re excellent, it gives you the freedom to [go], saying, ‘Okay, I can just play here.’?” Although playing in many situations can be challenging, that is why we adore cricket.
Now, Stubbs ought to be prepared for spin if it does start to have an increasing influence at the IPL.
“I had one net session with Kuldeep. Since he hadn’t bowled to me since the [T20] World Cup final, he really asked to do so. Thus, he desired to repeat the action,” Stubbs stated. “But, to be honest, you feel extremely confident because they [DC’s spinners] are bowling really well if you can make it through that net session.
“And then if you walk out of that session feeling good, then you know you’re in good stead.”
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