Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by five wickets in their IPL 2026 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday (May 17), keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.
Asked to bat first, RR looked set for a 220+ score, sitting comfortably at 160/2 in 14 overs. However, a brilliant 4-wicket haul by Mitchell Starc derailed their momentum and the visitors were restricted to 193/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, DC got off to a flying start with a 105-run opening partnership between KL Rahul (56 off 42) and Abishek Porel (51 off 31). Despite a few middle-order wobbles, Axar Patel (34* off 18 balls) and Ashutosh Sharma (18* off 5 balls) calmly steered the team home with four balls remaining.
Speaking after the game, Rahul expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating that he consistently scores 500+ runs a season but actively pushed himself out of his comfort zone this year to adapt to the high strike-rate demands of modern T20 cricket.
"Yeah, but this one feels a little bit more special because, I've been scoring 500 runs every season, but I set out to achieve something else, which is to up my strike-rate and try and keep up with the modern T20 demand. So, yeah, I'm quite pleased that I could do that. But yeah, if we had a few more wins, that would have been even more special. And yeah, I think we still have an outside chance. So we're hoping that we can get a win next game and some of the other teams can help us out,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
Rahul revealed that DC's coach and captain specifically instructed him to be aggressive during the powerplay this season.
However, the team had a clear game plan against RR because the pitch was tricky. While his partner Abishek Porel took on the bowlers from the start, Rahul adopted an anchoring role to bat deep and keep the dressing room calm.
“(On his improved strike-rate) Yeah, I mean, it's been a journey. I mean, I haven't still... I don't think I still have cracked it completely, this game and playing sport is all about trial and error and being open to experimenting, being open to being uncomfortable, doing uncomfortable things. And yeah, so I've always tried to do that and try and adapt to the demands of the game and try and do what the team asks of me. This time there was a very clear message from the coach and the captain when we had a chat before the season that, they wanted me to play at a certain strike-rate and dominate the powerplay and dominate the bowling. So that's how I, tried to model my game around that and try and do that for the team,” Rahul said.
“I did that and today again, I mean, we had a batters meeting a couple of days ago and the wicket here that we played in the last two or three games have been a bit tricky. So they expected somebody in the top three to bat deep. So I had to take on that role today and luckily for me, Abishek Porel batted beautifully, took the game on from the beginning so I could take some time and try and... try and build an innings and try and be there as long as possible and keep the dressing room calm,” he explained.
Rahul praised Porel's ability to play proper cricket shots while successfully adjusting his game to increase strike rate. He further highlighted Porel’s willingness to experiment and work with the coaching staff to effectively utilize the powerplay overs.
"The opportunities that he's gotten, he's shown everyone what he can do. Again someone who plays proper cricket shots and trying to understand the T20 game and try and, up his strike-rate, try and use that powerplay. I think we batted beautifully last season as well, but the feedback to him was that they wanted him to up that strike-rate and unfortunately, he didn't get too many chances in the beginning of the season, which is really frustrating, I could see, but he's been someone who's, been open to again experimenting. He's been talking to me, he's been talking to the coaches, and he's been working hard on his game and trying to improve that part of his batting. And yeah now that he's gotten the opportunity, I think an innings like this will give him confidence," Rahul remarked.
By proving that high scoring rates (like 170-200) can be achieved using proper cricketing shots rather than just wild hitting, Rahul believes Porel has built the crucial confidence and belief required to excel in T20s
“T20 is about confidence and belief that even with cricket shots and even with the skills that you have, you can go out there and score at 170, 200 strike-rate. And once you do that a couple of times, then you sort of, get a bit more relaxed and then start focusing on bat and ball. But for someone who's trying to achieve a higher strike-rate there's always, I feel like there's extra pressure, extra burden, but yeah, he's handled that beautifully and really happy that he could do that for the team today and the way he batted was exceptional,” he concluded.
