Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani conceded that his side repeatedly let winnable moments slip through their fingers during IPL 2026, ultimately costing them a playoffs berth for the fifth consecutive year. The admission came after DC signed off with a consolation 40-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on 25 May, finishing the season with 14 points from 14 matches — two short of the qualification cut.

The Moments That Got Away

Badani was candid in identifying specific games where the contest could have swung either way. 'There were many games that I genuinely felt that there’s a time in the game that the game could go either ways and we didn’t seize those moments,' he said. He cited a one-run defeat against Gujarat, a failure to defend 264 against Punjab Kings, and costly dropped catches in matches against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad as defining low points.

Batting collapses compounded the problem. 'We’ve lost too many in clusters,' Badani noted, pointing to a pattern of wickets falling in rapid succession that undermined otherwise competitive totals.

DC’s Bowling Woes: Joint-Lowest Wicket Tally

Delhi Capitals finished the season with just 64 wickets in 14 matches — joint-lowest among all ten IPL teams. Badani flagged this directly as a structural issue. 'As a bowling side, you ideally want to pick a lot of wickets. If you see the stat with sides taking wickets, I think we’re right at the bottom,' he said. The inability to take wickets consistently meant DC rarely built sustained pressure on opposition batting line-ups, a weakness that compounded their narrow-margin losses.

Starc’s Absence and Its Cost

The unavailability of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for the first nine games of the campaign was identified as a significant setback. 'Him not being available to us in the first nine games did hamper our progress,' Badani acknowledged. However, the coach stopped short of using Starc’s absence as a blanket excuse, arguing that DC still had enough opportunities to qualify even without their marquee overseas bowler.

Two Years, Same Story

This is the second successive season that Badani has overseen a DC side that narrowly missed the playoffs. Last year, DC finished on 15 points — one point short of qualification. This time, the fourth-placed qualifier reached the knockouts on 16 points, again leaving DC just one win away. 'Those one games are the small margins that I’m speaking of,' Badani said. 'You have to give your all on every ball and I think we are not doing well there.' With the franchise now out of the playoffs for five straight years, the pressure to convert near-misses into results will only intensify heading into IPL 2027.