Axar Patel for Delhi Capitals. Image Credits: AFP
On Sunday evening in Kolkata, the Delhi Capitals will end yet another IPL season without finishing in the playoff spots. They were officially knocked out with the Punjab Kings' away win over the Lucknow Super Giants on the penultimate day of the league phase.
Despite assembling a high-quality squad at the auction, a mix of underperformances and questionable tactical decisions prevented them from building any momentum in IPL 2026. They also lost five of their seven home matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium — one of them after scoring 264 runs in the first innings.
Ahead of their final clash of the season against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, they have 12 points in 13 matches, with 6 wins and 7 losses. Currently, they are placed 12th on the table, and a win could take them as high as number 5, if the Rajasthan Royals lose to the Mumbai Indians.
Nonetheless, a win would only be a consolation after a season worth introspecting. So, as they bow out of IPL 2026 in Kolkata, we take a look at the players who could be released from the Delhi Capitals' squad ahead of IPL 2027.
Delhi Capitals' Players In Firing Line After IPL 2026
1. Karun Nair
On the back of some commendable domestic form, the Delhi Capitals bought Karun Nair at a base price in the IPL 2025 mega auction. On his return, he also scored 89(40) against the Mumbai Indians, notably taking on Jasprit Bumrah on the day.
However, across 10 innings in IPL 2025 and IPL 2026, he has only scored 216 runs at a strike rate of 175.60 and an average of 21.60. His fifty in the aforementioned MI clash was the only fifty he scored across both seasons.
He has only been used twice ahead of the final match of the season. With the domestic options like Sameer Rizvi, Sahil Parakh, Abishek Porel and Nitish Rana, who can all bat at 3, DC can release Karun Nair and free up INR 50L in their purse.
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2. T Natarajan
T Natarajan was among the most impressive young talents in IPL when he broke through with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He also went on to represent India across formats before things went south, and he suffered a string of injuries. Despite his injury concerns in IPL 2025, he was backed by the DC management moving into IPL 2026.
At 35, he played 10 matches in IPL 2026 and has only 5 wickets so far, conceding at a concerning economy rate of 11.18 runs per over. 3 of his 5 wickets also came in a single match against LSG, where he finished with 3/29. A release will add a whopping INR 10.75 crore to the purse, which can be invested in a younger talent.
3. Mukesh Kumar
The opening bowlers Mukesh Kumar is DC’s third-highest wicket-taker in the last two seasons, picking 18 wickets in 22 matches. On good days, he can also trouble the top-order with his Test match lines and lengths, but what goes against him is his consistency and economy rate.
Since the start of IPL 2025, he has an economy rate of 10.74 runs per over, and in IPL 2026, he has picked only 6 wickets in 10 innings at an economy rate of 11.26. The conceding rate is too high for a frontline pacer, looking at the volume of wickets he picks, and with Auqib Nabi’s inclusion, DC could end up releasing Mukesh Kumar for a younger prospect.
His release will give them another INR 8 crore to spend in the auction.
Total purse freed up: INR 19.25 crore.
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