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The Delhi Capitals made a shocking decision to let go of star cricketers like Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk while finalising their IPL retentions list for the 2026 season.

It was a gutsy move from the IPL franchise to release players of such calibre, considering that the franchise's performance turned a lot of attention in the preceding season.

Delhi Capitals Head Coach Reveals The Reason Behind Faf du Plessis' Release

Delhi Capitals head coach Hemang Badani has reflected upon the franchise's decision to release the veteran cricketer Faf du Plessis. The coach reflected that letting him go was difficult.

However, the franchise wants a younger prospect who could bring an aggressive approach that aligns with their playing style for the 2026 season.

“It’s never easy to release a player of Faf du Plessis’ calibre. Letting him go was a really tough decision because he has been a stellar performer in the IPL for many years. But we felt it was time to move towards a younger option, someone who could bring a more aggressive style that fits the brand of cricket we want to play,” Hemang Badani said on the IPL Retention Show on JioStar.

Coach Badani Also Reflects On Jake Fraser-McGurk's Release

Hemang Badani also opened up about the release of Jake Fraser-McGurk ahead of the IPL 2026 Auction. The trailblazing Aussie cricketer put up a brilliant display in 2024, scoring 330 runs and scoring four half-centuries in the nine matches he played.

Fraser McGurk failed to bring the spark in the 2025 season, and Hemang Badani revealed the DC management did not feel they got enough value from the investment.

"With Jake Fraser-McGurk, we backed him based on how he performed last season, but at nine crore, we didn’t feel we got enough value from that investment. So, we felt it was best to let him go as well. Overall, we are quite pleased with the squad we have right now," the DC head coach added.

The Delhi Capitals have retained players like captain Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Mitchell Starc as their core.

With Nitish Rana being brought in for a trade, they also retained stars like Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Abhishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Karun Nair, Madhav Tiwari, Mukesh Kumar, T. Natarajan, and Dushmantha Chameera.