Delhi Capitals (DC) find themselves in a spot of bother as far as their IPL 2026 playoff hopes are concerned. The Axar Patel-led side began their IPL 2026 campaign on a confident note, winning three out of their first five matches. However, their fortunes have taken a wrong turn as the IPL 2020 finalists find themselves in eighth place with eight points from 11 matches.
With other teams like Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) catching up with the rest of the top-half teams in the IPL 2026 standings, it goes without saying that Delhi Capitals have to win each of their remaining matches.
As Delhi Capitals gear up to face Punjab Kings on Monday, let's take a look at their IPL playoff scenarios.
E: Eliminated from IPL 2026
As of now, Delhi Capitals are still mathematically alive in the race to the IPL 2026 playoffs. Delhi Capitals have matches against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and winning each of the three matches will take them to 14 points from as many matches.
Even with 14 points, their playoff hopes will remain slim as they will want Punjab Kings (Fourth place, 13 points), Chennai Super Kings (Fifth place, 12 points) and Rajasthan Royals (Sixth place, 12 points) all to slip up. Kolkata Knight Riders are also ahead of DC currently, in seventh place with nine points from 10 matches.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Gujarat Titans (GT) all have 14 points already with three games to play for each of them. DC's negative Net Run Rate (NRR) of -1.154 does not help their case either.
This means that Axar Patel and Co should not just win matches, but they must do so by very big margins. With Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) eliminated, a defeat for DC in either of their three remaining matches will mean that they too will be knocked out of IPL 2026.
IPL 2024 was the last time a team qualified with 14 points in the league stage. That was Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), as they defeated Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs in Bengaluru, to take the fourth playoff spot.
Both RCB and CSK finished with 14 points from as many matches, but the Faf du Plessis-led side qualified for the playoffs by virtue of a superior NRR.
