IPL 2025: Five Domestic Players who can make a difference for Delhi Capitals

After finishing the 2024 edition in sixth place and missing out on the final playoffs berth on net-run-rate, the Delhi Capitals under the new leadership of KL Rahul will look to break into the playoffs and eventually deliver the franchise their first ever IPL title. 

In this article, we take a look at the five domestic players who can make a difference for the Delhi Capitals this coming season. 

Abhishek Porel

Following an excellent IPL 2024 for the Bengal wicketkeeper batsman where he scored 327 runs at a strike rate of 159, Abhishek Porel has been in decent form in the lead up to the 2025 edition of India’s premier T20 competition. 

In his nine matches for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), the 22-year-old south paw has scored 335 runs at a strike-rate of 159, with half centuries against Mizoram, Meghalaya and Rajasthan helping in powering his team to the knockout stages. 

In the subsequent Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), Porel carried on his merry way, scoring 317 runs at an average of 53 and a healthy strike-rate of 106. With the potential pairing of KL Rahul and either one of Faf du Plessis or Jack Fraser-McGurk opening the batting for DC this coming season, Porel at #3 will look to carry on his aggressive approach from the previous edition. 

Karun Nair

The former India international is currently playing some of the best cricket he’s ever played. After leading his Karnataka Premier League (KPL) side, Mysore Warriors, to the title last season as well as finishing the tournament as the Player of the Series with 560 runs and a strike rate of 181, Karun Nair carried on his good run with his state side at the SMAT, scoring 255 runs in six innings, striking at 177. 

In the ongoing VHT, where Karnataka have currently made it to the semifinals, the 33-year-old right-hander has been pivotal to their success. Nair has five hundreds in six matches and has only been dismissed once. His 664 runs in just six innings at a strike rate of 115 means he’s topping the highest run-getters list by quite a margin. Given, the number of sloggers and explosive batters the Delhi Capitals have at their disposal, it’ll be very helpful to have someone like Karun Nair batting for them at #3 or #4, especially with the kind of form he’s in.

Sameer Rizvi

A lot was expected from him when the Chennai Super Kings roped him in for a substantial INR 8.4 crore, however, things didn’t quite really work out for the Uttar Pradesh based batter. With CSK erring on the side of caution and not tinkering with their established line-up too much, Sameer Rizvi didn’t get the many opportunities to make a stake for himself as he would have liked. 

Looking at his exploits in the UPT20 league as well as his limited knocks for CSK, it is evident that there’s a lot more the 21-year-old can offer. Although he had an average SMAT, scoring just 134 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 137, he scored an 82-ball 105 against Vidharbha in his last VHT outing for UP. Given, Delhi Capitals don’t have too many explosive batters in their reserves apart from the starters, someone like Rizvi can be an excellent addition as an Impact Sub given his spin-hitting and slogging prowess. 

Darshan Nalkande

Having played for the Gujarat Titans during the last three seasons under the tutelage of Ashish Nehra, Vidharbha’s Darshan Nalkande will be plying his trade for the Delhi Capitals from this season. With GT boasting one of the best fast bowling contingent in recent years, it was difficult for the 26-year-old Nalkande to make a claim for a place in the playing XI. However, whenever called upon, he was entrusted with bowling the difficult death overs. 

In the lead up to this season’s IPL, Nalkande has been among the wickets in both the SMAT and the VHT, he bagged 12 wickets in just six innings in the SMAT before his team was knocked out in the quarterfinals by eventual champions Mumbai, while in the VHT, Nalkande has so far picked up 10 wickets with a semifinal against Maharashtra due to be contested on 16th January. Given his knack for taking wickets and ability to operate in the crucial death overs, there’s every possibility that the DC management will turn to him as their Impact Sub while defending totals. 

Ashutosh Sharma

Railways’ Ashutosh Sharma announced himself in the IPL in grand fashion, scoring three consecutive 30+ scores as well as a career best 28-ball 61 against the Mumbai Indians, however, his form tailed off towards the latter stages as he ended his season with 189 runs, striking at just over 167. Although the Punjab Kings failed to buy back their lower order batter, the 26-year-old has found his new home at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with DC splurging out INR 3.8 crore for his services. 

For all of DC’s explosive batting firepower in the top and middle order, there aren’t many players who can bat effectively lower down the order and wreak havoc in the death overs. That makes it imperative that the management will look to bed Ashutosh in the playing XI right from the start. Moreover, the 26-year-old has also been in decent touch, scoring 164 runs in SMAT at a strike rate of 167 as well as scoring 241 runs in seven innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, striking at 145.