IPL 2026: If We Drop Catches, We Cannot Defend, Need To Improve Fielding And Bowling, Says Rao

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) Delhi Capitals (DC) Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao admitted that dropped catches and poor bowling cost his side dearly in their high-scoring six-wicket defeat to Punjab Kings in IPL 2026. At the same time, he praised KL Rahul's unbeaten 152, while stressing on the need to adapt better in future matches.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, DC posted 264/2, but Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh hitting 116 runs in the powerplay along with captain Shreyas Iyer hitting a composed 71 not out off 36 balls helped PBKS chase down 265 with seven balls to spare.

Apart from giving Prabhsimran a life early on, Iyer was also given reprieves twice by Karun Nair in a span of five balls at the fag end, which also played a big part in DC suffering its fourth IPL defeat.

“Yes, I can say that not 2, we dropped almost 6 catches today. See, when you are dropping batters at a crucial time, I do not think we will win these kinds of matches. Chances to players like Prabhsimran, Priyansh Arya and Shreyas, we need to take those. If we drop catches, we cannot defend,” Rao said at the post-match press conference.

Reflecting on the failed defense, Rao first credited KL for taking the side to a gigantic total.“See, after scoring and putting a target of 264, still we could not defend. First of all, credit goes to KL, the way he handled it. Nobody knows how the pitch behaved, but he kept on striking the ball well. The way he played till the last over, hats off.

“He continued his form. More importantly, in this format, you cannot relax. He took responsibility as a senior player and you saw the difference this year in what he can bring. I am happy for him. We could not get the win, but we will come back strong in the next match.”

On areas of improvement, especially DC set to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday, Rao said,“We will see. Next game when we come, we will answer. There are a lot of positives. But the areas to improve are powerplay bowling and catching.”

He also pointed to the impact of Lungi Ngidi's absence due to a serious head injury impacting DC bowling plans.“At the end of the day, 264 is not a small target. Kuldeep bowled well, Axar bowled well. But if you look back, the 4 overs of Lungi and the dropped catches made the difference.”

On Ranji Trophy's leading wicket-taker Auqib Nabi yet to leave an impact in the IPL, Rao remarked,“Auqib Nabi did well in red-ball cricket. This is his first IPL, it happens to everyone. He will gain experience. We need to back him. It is difficult to get fast bowlers in India and he has done well. He will learn.”

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