Match 32 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season brings us a crucial encounter between the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on April 16.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
Indian Premier League 2025 | Match 32: Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals | 19:30 IST, April 16
It was one of the most bizarre nights as the Mumbai Indians produced a magical performance to snatch the win out of the Capitals’ grasp in their last game. Following Karun Nair’s extraordinary innings (89 off 40), which had firmly placed the match on a platter for DC, some poor shot selection and restless batting from their middle order saw MI walk away with a 12-run victory and, more importantly, two crucial points.
As a result, DC have now lost their “unbeaten this season” tag, though they remain second in the points table thanks to their net run rate, with the top four teams all tied on eight points.
Despite their confidence-sapping defeat against MI, there were lots of positives to take for Axar Patel and Co. With Faf du Plessis possibly out for the rest of the season and Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk failing to set the IPL alight, Nair’s introduction as an Impact Sub will give DC a lot of confidence going forward. Given his form, he can easily start as an opener or at No. 3, allowing Abishek Porel to open the batting.
In their bowling department, both Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav continue to trouble opposition batters with their variations, although both Mitchell Starc and Mohit Sharma have been expensive and ineffective in recent matches.
Similar to DC, the Royals also played their first home game last weekend and were outclassed comprehensively by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. It has been a very inconsistent season from them thus far: they started with two defeats, then won two on the bounce, and have again lost two games on the trot, sitting eighth in the table with four points.
Although both their openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, have been among the runs recently, RR’s intent in the middle remains questionable, which was also the case against RCB. While they are heavily reliant on their Indian batting core, both the volume of runs and the pace at which they are accumulating those runs have to become a concern.
RR’s spin attack and supporting seamers like Tushar Deshpande and Falzalhaq Farooqi have been leaking runs at a canter. Besides, their fielding also needs to sharpen up. Against RCB, they should have dismissed both Virat Kohli and Phil Salt inside the Powerplay, but dropped catches saw Salt end up with 65 off 33, while Kohli registered 62* off 45 to seal a nine-wicket victory with 15 balls to spare.
Looking ahead to Match 32, the Capitals would certainly like to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, while the Royals will have their work cut out against a quality opposition at a small venue.
If the teams are served with a wicket similar to the one that was used in the DC-MI game, it will bring the RR spinners into play. The trio of Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Kumar Kartikeya will be crucial in restricting the right-hander-heavy batting lineup of DC. However, given the kind of form the likes of KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, and Karun Nair have shown recently, the Royals will need a near-perfect performance to inflict another home defeat on the Capitals.
Fantasy XI: KL Rahul, Sanju Samson (vc), Dhruv Jurel, Abishek Porel (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Axar Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Winners Prediction: Delhi Capitals
Leave a Reply