Delhi Capitals players (Photo courtesy: IPL)

New Delhi: Arun Jaitley Stadium was painted yellow on Tuesday evening. Everywhere one looked, in every stand where Delhi celebrated its best ever performance, a group of yellow jerseys was visible. They were there in groups and in small numbers, but their presence was difficult to ignore. At one point, slogans of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’ were echoed. Ironically, the former India captain, or ‘Thala’ as he is more fondly called Chennai Super Kings The loyalist, has not even traveled to the capital and has not played a game yet in this IPL season.At the other end, barring a small section of the DC contingent, Delhi Capitals fans were conspicuous by their absence. The blue and red players of the home team had little to show and no reason to erupt during Match 48 of IPL 2026.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!After winning the toss and electing to bat first, DC never got going and only late performances from Tristan Stubbs (38 off 31 balls) and Samir Rizvi (40 off 24) helped them reach a respectable 155/7.led by chennai super kings sanju samsonThe top order’s 87 off 52 balls and Kartik Sharma’s unbeaten 41 off 31 took the total to 15 balls and 8 wickets remaining.As a result, DC are seventh in the IPL standings with one win in the last five matches or two wins in the last eight. They are better than only Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians And this time Lucknow Super Giants.Apart from having low hopes of reaching the playoffs, what this group has in common is their poor home record. MI (home win record 33.3 percent), KKR (25 percent), DC (20 percent), and LSG (0 percent) have had very poor home runs, which goes along with their overall poor seasons.In contrast, CSK, who are placed sixth after consecutive wins, have the third-best home record (60 percent win record at home). The four teams in the playoff places – Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals – all have strong home win records of 75 per cent, 80 per cent, 60 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.Delhi Capitals have not helped their cause with the variety of surfaces on offer, while conditions have been inconsistent due to unseasonal rain and cool temperatures in the evening.The afternoon match against Punjab Kings was flat and ended with 529 runs. Then, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, DC were bowled out for just 75 runs on a lively track.On Tuesday, a surface that was yet to be used was expected to be slow by DC skipper Axar Patel. However, towards the end, they saw the opposite and the well-set batsmen needed time. While DC barely got any, CSK stitched an unbeaten 114-run partnership with Samson and Karthik.Delhi Capitals coach Hemang Badani He admitted that he has struggled in most departments and needs to adapt better to the conditions and pitches.“We don’t control the pitch. The surfaces are controlled bcci Guidelines to ensure neutrality,” he said in the post-match media conference.“You play what you are given. Yes, it has been a bit unexpected on our home ground. There was a very high score in one game, and spin helped in the other.“But it’s a matter of all teams. You have to adapt and find ways to win,” he said.Badani said the need of the hour is to win all their remaining four matches, two of which will be at home. But for this there is a need to remove discrepancies.“One day, we bowl well but don’t bat well. Another day, we bat well but fall short in other areas.”“At this level, you need at least 60 to 70 per cent contribution from players on a day. That is missing,” he said.