Former India pacer Dodda Ganesh didn’t hold back, going all out in his criticism of the Delhi Capitals and the management. He didn’t take kindly to the Delhi camp leaving out David Miller for the second game in a row in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The Axar Patel-led side opted to stick with Pathum Nissanka for the fixture against the Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The right-hander might have hit a half-century in the previous match against the Rajasthan Royals, but failed to get going against CSK, departing after scoring just 19 runs.
Ganesh opined that Delhi Capitals could have had one between Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, or Abishek Porel open the batting alongside KL Rahul to fit Miller into the mix.
The former India speedster was scathing in his assessment, saying the Delhi Capitals aren’t a serious team and the call to have Miller on the bench makes no sense.
“There’s so much Indian batting talent available in Delhi’s camp. They can so easily open with Shaw/Rana/Porel along with KL, & have Miller in the middle order. Instead, the geniuses play Nissanka at the top & drop Miller. Tell me, how can this be a serious cricket team? #IPL2026,” Ganesh wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The Axar call
For the match against CSK, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel won the toss and opted to bat first. However, the call backfired as the Delhi Capitals were reduced to 69/5 in the 11th over. There was a lot of assistance for the spinners, and Noor Ahmad and Akeal Hosein made merry, taking three wickets between themselves.
The Delhi score would have been down in the dumps, but Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi saved the franchise, stitching together a stand of 65 runs for the sixth wicket, taking the Delhi total to 155/7 in 20 overs. Stubbs scored 38 while Rizvi returned with an unbeaten 40. For CSK, Noor Ahmad was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 2/22 in 3 overs.
Delhi went past the 150-run mark owing to the 20 runs hit in the final over, bowled by Anshul Kamboj. Ashutosh Sharma also returned with a five-ball 14 to give the hosts something to bowl at. However, Delhi would have one less bowling option, as the management decided to bring in Rizvi as the impact player.
