After RCB ended their long title drought last year, three teams were left over in the IPL who have not yet had the chance to raise the trophy. Two of those meet on April Fool’s Day at the Ekana Stadium, as Lucknow Super Giants host Delhi Capitals to bring the first round of fixtures in this season to a close.

With all eight of the other teams having played, the IPL table will begin to take shape after this season. Heading into 2026, it is a question of belief and how far the teams are willing to dig to try and end that barren spell. For Lucknow, it is still somewhat excusable – the team is only entering its fifth season, having made the playoffs in its first two years, and is still trying to find its identity. A logo rebrand and a big jersey change are indicative of this: Rishabh Pant’s team is not one that is afraid to be experimental, to go against the grain, and to ruffle a few feathers if that is what is needed for success.

For Delhi Capitals, it has been an era of frustration. The team last made the playoffs in 2021, and their only final in 2020: in the four years since, Delhi have been there or thereabouts, regularly a quality team and capable of winning plenty of games, but somehow never making the playoffs. In 2025, Axar Patel’s team spent the first half looking like the team to beat, but followed that up with an almighty implosion as everything that worked stopped working.

On paper and based off the T20 pedigree in the team, DC should be amongst the favourites for this tournament, with a terrifically balanced squad and depth in every position. But the habit of winning games is so important in the IPL – RCB’s title charge in 2025 was built on winning six consecutive league games in the backend of 2024, which gave them confidence to go on and lift the trophy. DC have never quite managed to find that groove, going all the way back to the inaugural 2008 tournament. Winning can be a habit, but so can losing: it’s time DC change that.