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As IPL 2026 gears up, the Delhi Capitals find themselves at a crucial juncture. With overseas stars, Indian performers and rising young talent, which current combination would fit in DC’s account? Their major signings in the IPL 2026 auction, Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi, who was bought at a high price of ₹8.40 crore. The investment shows the desire of DC to increase their rapid attack using the new domestic talent.

The franchise was also very active in strengthening its foreign core. They introduced openers Ben Duckett and Pathum Nissanka, provided extra power to the pace outfit, including Lungi Ngidi and Kyle Jamieson and reinforced the middle order with the seasoned David Miller. It is a star-studded team that DC will be looking forward to win their maiden Indian Premier League.

Delhi Capitals demonstrated early promise last season, and the team won five of the first six games under the guidance of Axar Patel. Nevertheless, they lost momentum in this campaign in the second half, which eventually cost them a good finish.

Their IPL 2026 season will open on April 1 against Lucknow Super Giants, and hopefully, they will get off to a good start and continue it this time. Having a re-invented squad and fresh drive, the big question is, what might be the best XI of DC this season?

Here is a breakdown of the DC’s predicted Playing XI IPL 2026:

1. KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper)
DC’s 2025 failure was also because of Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk’s partnership. KL Rahul will be supposed to open the innings at the top as well as being fast enough when required. It is important that he can play the role of both stabiliser and aggressor, which makes him essential in establishing the tone in powerplay.

2. Ben Duckett
Ben Duckett, an aggressive left-hander, is a variety at the top. He has the ability to assume the role of a bowler in the power play and balance Rahul with an opposite strategy.

3. Karun Nair
Karun Nair offers stability in position 3. With a classical strokeplay, he is capable of rebuilding an innings in case initial wickets are lost and maintaining the scoreboard going.

4. Tristan Stubbs
Tristan Stubbs introduces explosive purpose in the middle overs. Combined with his pace and spin acceleration, he is also an essential enforcer in the lineup.

5. Axar Patel (Captain)
At the head of the side, Axar presents unimaginable balance. He provides the bat with consistency as a middle-order player and dominates the game with his economical left-hand spin.

6. David Miller
David Miller is a proven finisher whose role is obvious, capitalize on the number of runs in the death overs. The experience he has in the situations of high pressure gives more depth to the batting unit.

7. Ashutosh Sharma
At the bottom of the order, we have a power-hitter, Ashutosh, who gives us a late-innings drive. He has a quick-tempered passion to turn games around. Always turning out to be an MVP for DC, Ashutosh Sharma has delivered a string of noteworthy performances for the team.

Also Read: GT’s predicted XI for IPL 2026: Gill, Sudharsan lead top order, Buttler form a concern, Rashid key with ball


8. Vipraj Nigam
Nigam is a young all-round player, giving the team a string of flexibility on both ends of the bat and the ball.

9. Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav is the lead spinner of DC and is the main wicket-taker in the middle overs. His changes and manipulation qualify him to be a threat.

10. Mitchell Starc
Starc introduces world-class speed and swing, which is very dangerous in power play. He is also able to provide vital breakthroughs in death overs. And he has quite proven himself in IPL 2025.

11. T Natarajan
T. Natarajan is also known to have pinpoint yorkers and is instrumental in the death overs. This quality of limiting the number of runs and picking up wickets makes him priceless when it comes to ending the inning.

For the Impact player option, Abishek Porel is a great choice. He is versatile both as a top-order batter and a reserve wicketkeeper. He may be resorted to when DC lose early wickets, to provide some stability or as a like-for-like replacement during batting heavy chases.

DC’s predicted XI for IPL 2026:

KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Ben Duckett, Karun Nair, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (captain), David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, and T Natarajan.

Impact player: Abishek Porel

DC’s squad for IPL 2026

Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel (captain), Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson.