2026 Delhi Capitals season

Delhi Capitals
2026 season
CoachHemang Badani
CaptainAxar Patel

The 2026 season was the 19th season for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise Delhi Capitals. They were one of the ten teams that competed in the 2026 Indian Premier League.

Pre-season

Player retention

Retained players
No. Player Salary
1 Axar Patel 16.5 crore (US$2.0 million)
2 KL Rahul 14 crore (US$1.7 million)
3 Kuldeep Yadav 13.25 crore (US$1.6 million)
4 Mitchell Starc 11.75 crore (US$1.4 million)
5 T. Natarajan 10.75 crore (US$1.3 million)
6 Tristan Stubbs 10 crore (US$1.2 million)
7 Mukesh Kumar 8 crore (US$950,000)
8 Nitish Rana 4.2 crore (US$500,000)
9 Abhishek Porel 4 crore (US$470,000)
10 Ashutosh Sharma 3.8 crore (US$450,000)
11 Sameer Rizvi 95 lakh (US$110,000)
12 Dushmantha Chameera 75 lakh (US$89,000)
13 Karun Nair 50 lakh (US$59,000)
14 Madhav Tiwari 40 lakh (US$47,000)
15 Ajay Mandal 30 lakh (US$35,000)
16 Tripurana Vijay 30 lakh (US$35,000)
17 Vipraj Nigam 30 lakh (US$35,000)

Auction

The season's auction took place in December 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[1] The auction purse for each franchise was set at 125 crore (US$15 million), with franchises deducting an amount from the purse for every retained player.[2][3] Delhi had a purse remaining of 21.80 crore (US$2.6 million).[4] Delhi bought eight players in the auction, including six capped players and five overseas players.

Squad

  • Players with international caps as of start of 2026 IPL are listed in bold.
  • Ages are as of 26 March 2026 (2026-03-26).
  • Withdrawn players are indicated by a dagger symbol (†) and placed at the bottom of the table.
Delhi Capitals squad for the 2026 Indian Premier League
S/N Name Nationality Birth date Batting style Bowling style Salary Notes
1 KL Rahul  India (1992-04-18)18 April 1992 (aged 33) Right-handed Right-arm medium 14 crore (US$1.7 million)
10 David Miller  South Africa (1989-06-10)10 June 1989 (aged 36) Left-handed Right-arm off break 2 crore (US$240,000) Overseas
7 Sameer Rizvi  India (2003-12-06)December 6, 2003 (aged 22) Right-handed Right arm off-break 95 lakh (US$110,000)
20 Axar Patel  India (1994-01-20)January 20, 1994 (aged 32) Left-handed Left-arm orthodox 16.5 crore (US$2.0 million) Captain
23 Kuldeep Yadav  India (1994-12-14)December 14, 1994 (aged 31) Left-handed Left-arm wrist spin 13.25 crore (US$1.6 million)
24 Abhishek Porel  India (2002-10-17)17 October 2002 (aged 23) Left-handed N/a 4 crore (US$470,000)
28 Vipraj Nigam  India (2004-07-28)July 28, 2004 (aged 21) Right-handed Right-arm legbreak 50 lakh (US$59,000)
30 Tristan Stubbs  South Africa (2000-08-14)14 August 2000 (aged 25) Right-handed N/a 10 crore (US$1.2 million) Overseas
49 Mukesh Kumar  India (1993-10-12)October 12, 1993 (aged 32) Right-handed Right-arm medium 8 crore (US$950,000)
50 Tripurana Vijay  India (2001-09-05)September 5, 2001 (aged 24) Right-handed Right arm off-break 30 lakh (US$35,000)
56 Mitchell Starc  Australia (1990-01-30)January 30, 1990 (aged 36) Left-handed Left-arm fast 11.75 crore (US$1.4 million) Overseas
N/a Dushmantha Chameera  Sri Lanka (1992-01-11)January 11, 1992 (aged 34) Right-handed Left-arm fast 75 lakh (US$89,000) Overseas
N/a Ajay Mandal  India (1996-02-25)February 25, 1996 (aged 30) Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox 30 lakh (US$35,000)
N/a Karun Nair  India (1991-12-06)December 6, 1991 (aged 34) Right-handed Right-arm off break 50 lakh (US$59,000)
N/a T. Natarajan  India (1991-04-04)April 4, 1991 (aged 34) Left-handed Left-arm medium 10.75 crore (US$1.3 million)
N/a Ashutosh Sharma  India (1998-09-15)September 15, 1998 (aged 27) Right-handed N/a 3.80 crore (US$450,000)
N/a Madhav Tiwari  India (2003-09-28)September 28, 2003 (aged 22) Right-handed Right arm Fast medium 40 lakh (US$47,000)
36 Nitish Rana  India (1993-12-27)27 December 1993 (aged 32) Left-handed Right-arm off break 4.2 crore (US$500,000)
N/a Ben Duckett  England (1994-10-17)October 17, 1994 (aged 31) Left-handed Right-arm off break 2 crore (US$240,000)
N/a Kyle Jamieson  New Zealand (1994-12-30)December 30, 1994 (aged 31) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2 crore (US$240,000)
22 Lungi Ngidi  South Africa (1996-03-29)March 29, 1996 (aged 29) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2 crore (US$240,000)
Pathum Nissanka  Sri Lanka (1998-03-29)March 29, 1998 (aged 27) Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 4 crore (US$470,000)
Prithvi Shaw  India (1999-11-09)November 9, 1999 (aged 26) Right-handed Right-handed off-break 75 lakh (US$89,000)
Auqib Nabi  India (1996-11-04)November 4, 1996 (aged 29) Right-handed Right arm Medium 8.40 crore (US$990,000)
Sahil Ulhas Parakh  India (2007-06-07)June 7, 2007 (aged 18) Left-handed Legbreak 30 lakh (US$35,000)

Support staff

Position Name
Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao
Head coach Hemang Badani
Bowling coach Munaf Patel
Team Mentor Kevin Pietersen

References

  1. ^ "IPL auction set to take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  2. ^ "IPL 2026 retention rules explained: How many players can a franchise retain or release before auction?". The Times of India. 12 November 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 13 November 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  3. ^ "IPL 2026 auction: What each team needs and how much they can spend". The Economic Times. 13 December 2025. ISSN 0013-0389. Archived from the original on 21 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  4. ^ "IPL 2026 Auction, All You Need To Know: Start Time, Rules, Squads, Purses, Slots And More". Wisden. 31 October 2024. Archived from the original on 23 December 2025. Retrieved 9 January 2025.