IPL 2026: 'Want to understand the thinking' - Irfan Pathan questions Delhi Capitals over Shaw, Porel snub

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has questioned the continued exclusion of Indian batters Prithvi Shaw and Abhishek Porel in the Delhi Capitals team after their loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 27.

The Capitals were bowled out for a paltry score of 75, reeling at 8/6 in the powerplay with Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar picking up three wickets apiece. After the collapse in the powerplay, Pathan wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter), questioning the exclusion of Shaw and Porel, batters who have performed well for Delhi Capitals in the past.

Porel was brought in as an impact player and scored 30 runs off 33 balls before being cleaned up by Hazlewood for the final wicket. He put on 35 for the seventh wicket with David Miller and 19 for the eighth wicket with Kyle Jamieson. Porel has scored over 600 runs at a strike rate of 153.17 for the Capitals in the last two seasons. He has batted at the top of the order and in the back-end, and has three half-centuries to his name.

Shaw was picked up by the Delhi Capitals in the mini-auction for his base price of INR 75 lakhs. He has scored over 1800 runs for the Capitals at the top of the order. The poor form of Pathum Nissanka meant a slot opened up for Shaw to fill in, but the team chose to go with 18-year-old prospect Sahil Parakh. Parakh had an outing to forget, being bowled off the second ball of the innings for nought.

The Capitals return to action on May 1, against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Capitals are in a precarious position, sitting seventh on the table with just three wins in eight games. They will need to rack up results if they are to make a push for the playoffs, after missing out after a strong start in 2025.