Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani has admitted that his side could never consistently decode the nature of pitches at their home ground, Arun Jaitley Stadium, through the IPL 2026 season — a problem he says has now stretched across two consecutive editions of the tournament.

A Home Record That Tells Its Own Story

Despite closing their home leg with a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in front of 31,200 fans, Delhi Capitals managed just two wins from seven home matches in IPL 2026 — a loss percentage of 71.4% at their own venue. The pattern is not new: in the 2025 edition, DC won only one of five home games in New Delhi.

Across both seasons combined, DC have played 12 matches at the venue and won only three, with one of those victories coming via a Super Over. 'That pretty much tells you how the surface has been for us,' Badani told reporters after Sunday's win. 'It hasn't been conducive to our style of play.'

What Badani Said About the Unpredictable Surfaces

Badani described a situation where the coaching staff eventually stopped trying to read the pitch altogether. 'Literally the same with me. We've stopped discussing the surface. We play this venue as another venue,' he said, echoing remarks made by captain Axar Patel at the toss.

He pointed to the extreme variability across different pitches used at the ground. 'One match we're out on 60, another on 150, another on 260. So we don't know how to consistently play pitch No. 4, No. 5, No. 6,' Badani explained. 'We know that if pitch No. 5 is a 180 pitch, pitch No. 6 is a 200 pitch, pitch No. 4 is a 250 pitch, then you structure the side accordingly. But here, it's just going on.'

He added that the team had begun treating the stadium as an away venue, since the surface offered none of the predictability a home side typically relies on for team selection and game planning.

How DC Adapted in Sunday's Win

Rajasthan Royals were placed at 160 for 2 before collapsing, managing only 33 runs in the final six overs and losing eight wickets. Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul was central to that collapse. In reply, KL Rahul and Abishek Porel put on 72 runs without loss in the powerplay — DC's best batting powerplay return of the season — before going on to post a 105-run opening partnership, the side's second century stand of the campaign, and notably both have come against Rajasthan Royals.

Badani credited a deliberate approach of going hard at the top while taking the game deep. 'The ball was starting to do reverse and holding a bit on the surface. It wasn't easy to bat once the ball got older,' he said. 'Hence, we said: take the game deep, go hard at the top.'

The Opening Combination Debate

DC cycled through multiple opening combinations this season, including Pathum Nissanka and Sahil Parakh, before settling on the Rahul–Porel pairing. Badani was measured in his assessment, defending the process while acknowledging hindsight makes such calls look straightforward.

'If you go back to our season in 2025, our issues were up top. Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul — we just couldn't figure out the right opening partnership,' he said. He added that Nissanka contributed meaningfully with scores in the 40s, 50s and 60s, but that Porel's emergence later in the season had ultimately provided the stability DC were seeking.

Playoff Picture and What Comes Next

Delhi Capitals retain a slim chance of qualifying for the playoffs following Sunday's result. Their away form — four wins from six games outside New Delhi — suggests the core of the side is capable; the home venue has simply been an outlier. Whether DC's management seeks a formal review of pitch preparation at Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of next season remains to be seen.