"KL Rahul Has Gone Off The Boil…": DC's Slump In Form At IPL 2025 Analysed

Delhi Capitals, after a brilliant start in the IPL 2025 that saw them climb to the top of the points table, have somewhat lost their way in the campaign. In their last five matches, DC have lost three while one of their matches was washed out. It has left the Axar Patel-led DC with 13 points from 11 games. While they are still in the race for playoffs, the fifth-placed side is not exactly in a great space with several other teams in contention.   

Former India and Kolkata Knight Riders opener Aakash Chopra analysed their show till now. 

“Your batting is not firing. You lost faith in Jake Fraser-McGurk. Faf du Plessis has hardly played one or two knocks. Karun Nair has played one knock. Abishek Porel has played two-and-a-half knocks. KL Rahul has played a few knocks. However, he has gone off the boil. After that, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel. You weren’t supposed to play a punt on them,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“Where is your replacement for Brook? They haven’t taken one, and won’t get it as well if they don’t take it in the next two days. That story has ended for them.”

Following the Delhi Capitals (DC) washout, Indian spin veteran Piyush Chawla expressed doubts over the Blue and Red team’s hopes for the playoffs, saying that they look in danger of losing their chance of reaching the final four stage. After a low-scoring innings at Uppal Stadium, DC managed to escape a potential loss and walked away with one point to their names, keeping their playoff hopes alive. After win in their first five matches, DC has been shaky, with just a win, four losses and a no result in their knext games. Speaking on the ‘Match Centre Live’ on JioHotstar, JioStar Expert Piyush talked about changes in DC’s opening line-up and backed Jake Fraser McGurk to play again after a string of failures.

“When KL Rahul opened (against CSK), it was a forced change because Faf du Plessis was injured. Rahul was meant to bat at number three or four to anchor the innings during pressure situations. DC has already tried six or seven combinations at the top. Their biggest bet was Jake Fraser-McGurk, which didn’t pay off recently. But I feel they should go back to him — if he fires, he can give you explosive start in the powerplay. If he does not, it is no different from what is already happening,” he added.