Delhi Capitals (DC) have been struggling in IPL 2026 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, where their home matches have often felt like a different challenge compared to those played away from Delhi. After DC beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Delhi on Sunday, head coach Hemang Badani said the team has stopped getting stuck in surface talk\u2014insisting that, in practical terms, they treat the venue like an away ground.<\/p>\n
Badani has made similar comments before, describing home cricket at the venue as an \u201cup-and-down\u201d experience, and urging the BCCI to take better care of the playing surfaces. With five defeats and only two victories at home this season, his complaint appears well grounded: DC have managed at least one remarkable chase of 264, finishing with seven balls to spare, but in the very next match they were dismissed for 75.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the press interaction after the win, Badani tried to put the season into perspective by splitting their results into home and away. \u201cIf you\u2019re able to break the season into two halves\u2014what has happened at home and what has happened away\u2014then we\u2019ve had four wins from six games away, and we\u2019ve mainly struggled at home [two wins in seven games],\u201d he said. \u201cFrom last year, we\u2019ve had five wins at this ground and we\u2019ve now added seven more games, taking it to 12 matches. In those, we\u2019ve won only three times, and one of those wins came via a Super Over. That pretty much sums up what the surface has been like for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the conditions have not suited DC\u2019s brand of cricket. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been conducive to our style of play. We\u2019ve often not been able to read what the surface is doing, and that\u2019s why you\u2019re seeing those kinds of results and those numbers,\u201d Badani said.<\/p>\n
Badani also reflected on how teams usually plan based on the nature of the strip\u2014grass available, surface texture, and even the colour. \u201cIdeally, you\u2019d look at the grass, the texture and the colour of the wicket. But every time we come here, we\u2019ve been faced with something different. So it is what it is. We accept it and move on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Badani, the three Delhi pitches used for DC\u2019s matches have not repeated themselves consistently. \u201cWe are getting bowled out for 60; we are getting bowled out for 150; and we\u2019re also scoring 260. We don\u2019t know how Pitch No. 4 will play, how Pitch No. 5 will play, how Pitch No. 6 will play,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe\u2019ve played on three pitches and all of them have been different each time, so it\u2019s hard to plan. When you know this wicket\u2019s par score is 180, or 200, or 250, you shape the team accordingly. But here\u2026 whatever happens is what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with Sunday\u2019s win keeping their playoff hopes alive, DC were not fully satisfied with the wicket they received. Badani suggested that RR\u2019s innings showed how the track behaved as the game progressed. \u201cSpeaking about this game, I think even if you look at their innings, they were 160 for 2 [after 14 overs], and then they hardly got runs at the end. They probably scored about 33 in the last six overs, and we took [six more] wickets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Badani said DC faced a similar rhythm shift but managed it by being careful, especially since they had a target to work with. \u201cThe same happened to us where we slowed down a bit, but we were cautious because we had a [target] in front of us. They had to set a target and we were trying to build the match because the ball was starting to do reverse,\u201d he added. \u201cIt was holding a little in the surface as well. Once the ball got older, batting wasn\u2019t easy, so we decided to carry the game deeper\u2014go hard at the top, but then take it deep in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Badani was also asked again about a question that has come up before: should the BCCI allow IPL franchises to have input into pitch selection so that home advantage is more meaningful?<\/p>\n
His response was cautious but clear. \u201cIf it has to be a consistent decision for all [then yes], but it should at least be something where you know what to expect,\u201d Badani said. \u201cHere, we don\u2019t know what the surface will do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Delhi Capitals (DC) have been struggling in IPL 2026 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, where their home matches have often felt like a different challenge compared…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026: Hemang Badani Says DC Get Away Advantage","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Hemang Badani reveals why Delhi Capitals treat Arun Jaitley Stadium like an away ground in IPL 2026, after DC\u2019s win over RR.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n