Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings will once again begin their fight for the Indian Premier League title when the 2026 season begins on March 28. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathanwho has represented both teams, reflected on his journey and highlighted the key reasons behind his long title drought. Speaking on JioStar, Pathan pointed out that Delhi struggled with talent identification in the early 2010s, which hindered their growth. “When I was in Delhi, Eric Simmons, who is now with CSK as bowling coach, was the coach, and there was an effort to bring stability. But when you let go of players like you. AB de Villiersand you have Andre Russell, starting from scratch is not easy. I played in the same dressing room with Russell, and there was a lot of talk about giving him more opportunities, but they couldn’t find a permanent place for him in the XI. So, talent identification is very important, and I think Delhi was lacking in that area,” said Pathan. On the other hand, Punjab has shown signs of growth in recent seasons. Ahead of IPL 2025, the franchise made significant changes by appointing the Australian great. Ricky Ponting As head coach and signing Shreyas Iyer 26.75 crore in The team enjoyed a strong campaign and reached the final before falling short against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Pathans credited their recovery to better leadership and strategic planning from Punjab. “Leadership has played a huge role in Punjab’s transformation. You win half the IPL at the auction table. Big purses don’t always mean you get what you want, but they did, and they got to the final. Even in the mini-auction, they made bold but important calls, like letting under-performing players go,” explained Maxwell. He also referenced the situation surrounding Josh Inglis, noting how the situation affected his plans. “They were a bit unlucky with the Josh Inglis situation, given that he’s going to miss most of the season, but then you see another team go after him for a huge price. In that sense, they’re making a lot of right decisions,” Pathan added. Another key improvement, according to Pathan, is Punjab’s focus on strengthening their squad depth. “Look at the back-up players. In the past, Punjab struggled with this when the focus was on building the starting XI, but now you see a young Indian batting corps with all-rounders like Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Johnson and Marcus Stoinis. Also, they went all out for Shreyas Iyer, after deciding that I thought he would start captaining Punjab, and I’m starting to think he will be the captain. In the right direction,” he said. concluded. As IPL 2026 approaches, both Delhi and Punjab aim to finally end their title drought, armed with lessons from the past and renewed hope for the future.
