Former India batter Abhinav Mukund has called on Delhi Capitals to rethink their batting order for the upcoming IPL season, arguing that Rishabh Pant should ideally be deployed at the top of the order — potentially opening alongside new acquisition KL Rahul. Mukund made the remarks in an interview with JioStar on 12 November, following Pant's high-profile return to the Delhi Capitals franchise.

The Top-Order Puzzle

Mukund's central concern is a structural one: Delhi, he argues, have an embarrassment of riches in the top three but lack clearly defined middle-order options. The former India opener listed Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair, and Sahil Parakh as players who all naturally bat inside the top three — leaving limited flexibility further down the order.

'I'd love for Rishabh to bat in the top three. If that is an area where Delhi Capitals are looking to address, why not have Pant and Rahul open the batting? That is something I would do first with this side because I somehow struggled to find middle-order batters, as there are so many top-order options. There's Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Pathum Nissanka, Karun Nair and Sahil Parakh, all of whom bat in the top three,' Mukund told JioStar.

The Case For and Against No. 4

Mukund acknowledged that Pant has historically thrived as a middle-order batter for Delhi in his earlier stints with the franchise, making a case for retaining him at No. 4 if the team management prefers continuity. However, he also pointed to Pant's relatively modest returns batting at positions four and five over the past two seasons as a reason to consider a change.

'You have seen that he hasn't had much success at four and five in the last two years. Maybe at Delhi, it would change because, in his earlier years at Delhi, he was very successful as a middle-order batter. So, if you want to bat him at four, keep him at four,' Mukund said. He added that the incoming support staff — which reportedly includes high-profile names — would have a significant bearing on the team's final strategy: 'It's also a case of new support staff, Dada, Yuvi Paa and all of them. So, you don't know what their strategy is. We'll have to wait and see what sort of team they'll build.'

Mukund Questions Natarajan-Ansari Trade

Beyond the batting order debate, Mukund also raised eyebrows at Delhi Capitals' decision to trade T Natarajan to Sunrisers Hyderabad in exchange for leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari. He argued that Delhi already possess a comparable spin-bowling asset in Vipraj Nigam — also a leg-spinner who can contribute with the bat — making the acquisition of Ansari difficult to justify.

'I was very surprised when they released, or rather traded, Natarajan for Ansari because they've already got a Vipraj Nigam who's very similar, a leggie, who can also bat. Axar Patel, Vipraj, how many more spinners are you going to field? So, I thought SRH were better off with that trade than DC getting in Zeeshan Ansari. I don't get that trade either,' Mukund said.

What It Means for Delhi Capitals' IPL Planning

This comes amid a broader reconstruction phase at Delhi Capitals as the franchise rebuilds around Pant following his extended absence due to injury. The question of how to fit multiple high-profile openers and top-order batters into one coherent XI is a genuine selection headache — one that the new support staff will need to resolve before the season begins. Mukund's critique reflects a wider analytical concern: franchise squads built around marquee signings sometimes sacrifice balance at the expense of star power, and Delhi's current roster composition, as he sees it, risks that trade-off.