IPL 2026 | When Jaiswal enjoys his batting, he does well: Sangakkara

Not much has gone right for Delhi Capitals this IPL season. After cruising to a win over Mumbai Indians in its backyard, DC, for most part, has been either comprehensively outplayed or left to endure heartbreaks.

Assistant coach Ian Bell didn’t sugarcoat reality. “It has been a crazy season. We scored 264 (vs. Punjab Kings) and followed that up by getting all out for 75. You can’t win competitions if you’re that inconsistent. In front of your home fans, you want to make this a fortress.”

The former England batter termed instability as the defining factor between Capitals and the teams entrenched in the top four. “The combinations haven’t quite worked for us. Players need to take the opportunities and turn them into match-winning performances.”

He also marked DC’s prime target for Sunday. “When you play Rajasthan Royals, he (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) is the prized wicket.”

Beyond the soaring sixes and growing hype around the teenager’s batting, RR head coach and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara offered a glimpse of how the set-up balances Sooryavanshi’s bursts with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggles.

“There’s not a lot to do with Sooryavanshi. Everyone knows how talented he is. This is just the start. He’ll face different challenges as he grows older, starts playing international cricket and facing bowlers who try to plan against him. The one thing he should never lose is his enjoyment of batting,” said Sangakkara.

“Everyone focuses on Sooryavanshi because he’s young and exciting. He does things other batters can’t do. That’s the same with Jaiswal. He does things other batters can’t do, and that is just scoring runs in any condition and against any attack. I don’t think there’s any notion of [him playing] second fiddle. Jaiswal just needs to stay focused, smile, relax and enjoy his batting. Every time he does that, he does well for us.”