Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has opined that Delhi Capitals lower-order is the weakest in IPL 2026. The Capitals suffered a 23-run loss against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday.

CSK posted a par score of 212 runs but DC was bowled out for 189. Ashwin questioned why Axar Patel did not complete Kuldeep Yadav quota of overs. Furthermore, he noted that T Natarajan was taken to the cleaners by Sanju Samson, who scored a smashing knock of 115 runs off just 56 balls.

“How many mistakes did Delhi make today? Did not finish Kuldeep’s spell, Natarajan conceded 50 runs, and he was bowling slower balls into the surface to Sanju. If there is one ball that you cannot bowl to Sanju, it is the short ball with enough time for him to play it. By the time he ended his spell, he did not use the yorker only,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“Delhi has another problem, their lower-order is the weakest in the tournament. Today Auqib Nabi played, he got 2 overs, Kuldeep bowled 2 overs, their spells remained unfinished. The way KL Rahul and Pathum Nissanka started this game, they could have won this easily,” he added.

On the other hand, DC captain Axar Patel admitted losing quick wickets in succession broke their momentum in the run-chase. DC openers added 61 runs for the opening alliance but the visitors lost four wickets for 15 runs.

“We got off to a good start, but after the powerplay, losing a couple of wickets in quick succession broke the momentum. In a chase like this, clusters of wickets make things very difficult, and that’s where the game started slipping away from us,” DC captain Axar Patel said during the post-match presentation.

Delhi Capitals will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday.