The Delhi Capitals (DC) are in a dire situation halfway through the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. They have lost two games in a row for the second time after winning three of their first five games, and are desperate to regain some form.
The team’s performance does point to a need for change in terms of the players they play with, as they will take on the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), at home on Monday, April 27. The team led by Axar Patel has also struggled at home at the Arun Jaitley Stadium (AJS), losing two of the three games at the ground.
Another problem that DC has been facing is a poor beginning to their innings. Amid their woes with the opening bowling pair last year with Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis and others, a consistent duo in KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka was selected.
But the Sri Lankan has been inconsistent in his first IPL season, with 147 runs in seven innings for an average of 21.00 and a strike rate of 150.
So, here are three reasons why DC should play Prithvi Shaw in the playing XI for the IPL 2026 against RCB.
1. DC look to replace bowlers after 242 and 265 in last two games
The bowling unit of DC, which was one of the most balanced and effective in the tournament, has gone off the rails. The bowlers have given up 529 runs at an economy of 13.74 in the past two matches, which calls for some self-reflection.
DC will have to wait for Mitchell Starc to become available, but Lungi Ngidi may not be available due to a recent concussion. They have two foreign bowling options in the form of Kyle Jamieson and Dushmantha Chameera, and from their recent bowling performances, they need both.
Auqib Nabi has yet to make his presence felt at the highest level, and he can be replaced with Jamieson as the bowling all-rounder, and Chameera straight up for Ngidi.
In order to make these two changes, DC will need an all-Indian top-four, hence Prithvi Shaw being a like-for-like replacement for Nissanka.
2. Pathum Nissanka’s performances don’t warrant a longer leash
The Sri Lankan batsman started the IPL with a lot of hype. He was the done thing, given his past experience with the coach Hemang Badani and DC’s sister team, Dubai Capitals, and his recent performances.
Even if he has shown glimpses of brilliance, Nissanka hasn’t come as the complete package as far as a contemporary IPL opener is concerned. He has been forced to play with the windshield wipers on, which is not his forte and it has resulted in early dismissals. In four of the seven matches he has been dismissed for less than 10 runs.
Worse still, he has not improved his game as the tournament has gone on. He was in good form after four games, with 127 runs in 4 matches averaging at 31.75 with a strike rate of 153.01. But in the past three games, he has scored just 20 runs off 15 deliveries. The early dismissals, and the poor starts have certainly not helped DC in recent matches.
The half-season is more than enough time to be given and with their dire situation in the points table, DC cannot afford to be loyal to him and must experiment.
3. DC need an opener who is an aggressor to compete with others
While KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka looked like the answer to DC’s stability problems, the modern IPL, even more ruthless than in the last few years, requires power as well. With most teams overshooting the mark of 70-80 in the powerplay, DC have been a bit slower.
The need to score faster in the game has been a bit of a challenge for the two, who are too much alike. Nissanka has been the one to charge, and as it is not his natural style, it has only caused problems. Being under the pressure of scoring at a strike rate of more than 200 or 250 did not go well for him.
In seven innings that Nissanka and Rahul started together, they averaged 27.14, and had two stands of over 50. But in the remaining five games, they didn’t get past the 30-run mark.
In this regard, DC already has an agile powerplay player in Prithvi Shaw. The opener has a natural ability to open the scoring in powerplays and score boundaries in the early overs, and take the pressure on him of being the main aggressor in the powerplay, so that KL Rahul can continue to play his natural game.
Also, the bowlers were not too worried about the opening combination of Nissanka and Rahul, as they do not predominantly deal with big overs or try to score big sixes. However, with Shaw’s inclusion, it provides that element in the DC top order as he has shown his potential and destructive capacity in the past.
Prithvi Shaw has a strike rate of 160.52 in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) for Maharashtra. In the previous IPL in 2024, he had a strike rate of 159.09 in the powerplay. All these figures are good for DC, who must first of all iron out their opening combination to make a comeback to victory.
