Irfan Pathan picks Delhi Capitals playing 11 for IPL 2026; puts KL Rahul back as opener

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan had veteran wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul back at the top of the order in his Delhi Capitals (DC) playing XI for IPL 2026. The 2007 World T20 winner believes DC is among the very few franchises to already have a relatively settled starting XI heading into the auction next month.

Rahul batted in the middle order for most of the 2025 IPL season for the sake of team balance. However, Pathan lauded DC for trading in Nitish Rana from the Rajasthan Royals (RR), enabling Rahul to open the batting next year.

"It's a very good trade to get Nitish Rana. Looking at this team, I see a lot of value in Nitish Rana. Last year that seemed like the missing player base. Ideally though, they may want an overseas opener who can play fast bowlers effectively. This team doesn't look bad on paper," he said on his YouTube channel (4:06).

Rahul has batted at the top of the order for most of his IPL career, including during his Orange Cap-winning 2020 season.

Pathan listed his potential DC XI for IPL 2026 as follows:

KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan/Sameer Rizvi (Impact Sub).

Irfan Pathan lays out SRH's potential playing XI with gaps for IPL 2026

Irfan Pathan believes the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) boast a near-settled playing XI for IPL 2026 after their retentions. The former all-rounder urged the franchise to look for two spinners and a No.7 all-rounder in the IPL 2026 auction.

Pathan also advised the franchise to acquire another high-caliber seamer after they traded Mohammed Shami to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

"They'll need two spinners. Ideally, they'll also need an all-rounder who can bat down the order at around No. 7 and a good fast bowler since they let go of Mohammed Shami. But they'll need firepower at No. 7," Pathan said (via the aforementioned source).

Having let go of eight players through release and trade, SRH will enter the IPL 2026 auction with ₹25.50 crore.

Irfan Pathan concluded his analysis of SRH by sharing their potential playing XI and gaps for IPL 2026.

Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, ?, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.