As the Indian Premier League (IPL) gears up for its 2026 season, starting March 28, only the first 20 matches have been scheduled due to state elections. Ahead of the action, Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel shared insights regarding star batsman KL Rahul’s position in the lineup. He noted that last season, the team had two overseas players occupying the top order, which necessitated Rahul’s move to the middle order. “He was in the middle order last year due to our team composition. With two foreign players at the top, it made sense, as placing them in the middle order could lead to teams exploiting spin more effectively,” he explained. Looking forward to IPL 2026, Patel confirmed that Rahul will return to his preferred opening position, where he has consistently excelled. “He has always performed well at the top, securing many runs. A strong start in T20 can significantly ease the pressure on those following. Therefore, for now, we’ll position him as an opener,” Patel stated. The Delhi Capitals will launch their IPL 2026 campaign against the Lucknow Super Giants on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow.
**IPL 2026 Team Squads**
**Lucknow Super Giants:** Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi.
**Delhi Capitals:** David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari.