Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja believes Delhi Capitals (DC) should look at stopping the chopping and changing of their top-order in IPL 2025, while adding that the pace at which KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis batted resulted in them losing out to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja predicted that the ongoing 2025 edition of the IPL can be DC‘s year. He added that the Capitals haven’t even used all their resources, but have been showcasing brilliant performances. Ajay Jadeja hailed DC for being a ‘complete unit’ in IPL 2025.
Delhi Capitals (DC) journey in IPL 2025
Under first-time captain Axar Patel, Delhi Capitals (DC) got off to an flier, IPL 2025 winning their first four matches. But their fortunes took a tumble since their return to Delhi. In their three matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium so far, they have lost two and their only win came via a Super Over.
Against Mumbai Indians, they collapsed in a 206 chase despite being in the driving seat until Karun Nair fell in the 12th over. Against Rajasthan Royals, they looked like they were headed for defeat until Mitchell Starc defended nine runs in the final over to take the game to a one-over shootout. Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, their bowlers couldn’t capitalise on an early collapse.
A drop-off in the form of some of their key players has played a part. KL Rahul scored 185 runs in his first three games (he missed DC’s season opener), averaging 92.50 and striking at 169.72. However, since their first game in Delhi, he has only managed 179 runs in five innings, with his strike rate also dropping to 127.85.
In DC’s first four games, Kuldeep Yadav took eight wickets, conceding at less than a run a ball. In the next five matches, his number of wickets have halved, his economy rate has gone up to 7.35 and his strike rate has jumped from 12 to 30. Similarly, Mitchell Starc took nine wickets from his first four outings, but he has only picked up two wickets from the next five games. Until now, DC have been in the top half of the points table, but now they need to regroup and rediscover consistency as the battle for the playoffs heats up.
Ajay Jadeja urges Delhi Capitals to maintain a consistent top-order in IPL 2025, citing KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis’ batting pace as key factors in their loss to RCB.
DC should not keep chopping and changing too much- Ajay Jadeja
Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja believes Delhi Capitals (DC) should look at stopping the chopping and changing of their top-order in IPL 2025, while adding that the pace at which KL Rahul and Faf du Plessis batted resulted in them losing out to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
With five consecutive wins, DC had a phenomenal start to their IPL 2025 campaign. But their performance at their original home ground, Arun Jaitley Stadium, has been disappointing with two losses out of three games.
Their only win here happened via a nail-biting Super Over against the Rajasthan Royals. DC will next take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday, with an aim to get their second home win in New Delhi and keep themselves in contention for the playoffs.
“What they need to address is not to keep chopping and changing too much. They started with Jake Fraser-McGurk – I can’t get the pronunciation of his name right, so apologies to him. They started with him for three-four-five games, just because Karun Nair who wasn’t in the team came and did so well.”
“So they went with him as an opener. Then he had three bad games, and they went back to Faf du Plessis, because he was fit again. So that I think is their worry – the uncertainty that they are bringing into the side and KL Rahul is their key player,” said Jadeja, a JioStar expert, to IANS, in a virtual interaction on Monday.
Against RCB, du Plessis, returning from a groin injury and playing for the first time since April 10, struggled to get going and made 22 off 26 balls. Rahul, on the other hand, struggled to break free as RCB spinners forced a squeeze on scoring rate via sufficient help from a two-paced pitch, resulting in him making 41 off 39 balls.
The partnership between du Plessis and Rahul for the third wicket was worth 28 runs off 31 balls, with just one boundary hit.
“The last game that you referred to against RCB, was when he had a partnership with Faf du Plessis. He and him (Rahul) probably play at a similar pace. Like we were talking about Virat, Delhi was doing very well till that game where Rahul would do what he does and everyone else around him had to play a different kind of role.”
“When both of them, Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul become important players, then the pace of the game changes and I think that’s where they lost out in the last game. So, if I think I had a finger to point to, I think that’s where DC lost out in the last game and that is what I see at the moment,” added Jadeja.
The outcomes of this week’s and next week’s IPL 2025 matches will be pivotal in determining the four teams qualifying for the playoffs. With the top two teams assured to play in Qualifier 1, Jadeja stated that the pressure is equally high for both the top four (RCB, GT, MI, DC) and the bottom four (CSK, RR, SRH, KKR), though he pointed out the sources of it are very different.
“It’s not just the top four but even the bottom four. The pressures are different, of course. One is the pressure of the top four that you mentioned – that we’ve done all the hard work or we’ve gone through two-thirds of the tournament, if you may call it and done well.”
“So now we should let it go, and I think that is a much more of pressure than somebody at number seven, eight, nine saying, ‘Listen, we’ve got nothing to lose, let’s go out there’. So they have a pressure of going out, but they have everything to gain and the top guys have everything to lose.”
“Here, the pressure is always with a team or players that have something to lose. So yes, there is a lot of pressure to sustain something, but that’s what league tournaments are all about – it’s not a knockout,” he concluded.
Delhi Capitals will now face Kolkata Knight Riders and would now aim to maintain their journey upwards in the points table.
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