Delhi Capitals broke the bank for uncapped Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Dar, spending ₹8.40 crore on him, at the IPL 2026 mini auction on Tuesday. Auqib entered the auction with a base price of INR 30 lakh, and DC were involved in a bidding war with RR. Soon, RR opted out, and RCB entered the battle, but it was DC who reigned supreme, even beating SRH towards the end.
DC acquired South African veteran David Miller for INR 2 crore and also roped in wicketkeeper-batter Ben Duckett for INR 2 crore. Miller is an experienced IPL cricketer, having scored 3,077 runs in 141 IPL fixtures for PBKS, RR, GT and LSG, at an average of 35.77 and a strike rate of over 138. He also has a ton and 13 half-centuries.
Former India cricketer Anil Kumble praised DC's decision to go for Miller. Speaking on JioHotstar, he said, “Experience is something the Delhi Capitals clearly lacked. While the uncapped batters did perform well last season -- Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam, in particular, played the finisher's role effectively. Adding someone with David Miller's experience and ability is a big plus.”
“Pairing him with Tristan Stubbs, his South African teammate, strengthens the middle order significantly. At that price, it's an absolute steal for the Delhi Capitals. I thought Gujarat Titans might look to bring him back, but they seem likely to stick with Washington Sundar for that role. Overall, it's a genius move by Delhi Capitals to add experience -- something they were missing last season,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Pairing him with Tristan Stubbs, his South African teammate, strengthens the middle order significantly. At that price, it's an absolute steal for the Delhi Capitals. I thought Gujarat Titans might look to bring him back, but they seem likely to stick with Washington Sundar for that role. Overall, it's a genius move by Delhi Capitals to add experience -- something they were missing last season,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Ahead of the mini auction, DC traded in Nitish Rana from RR, and retained the likes of Abishek Porel, Ashutosh Sharma and KL Rahul.
Full list of players acquired by DC:
Auqib Dar (INR 8.4 crore), Ben Duckett (INR 2 crore), David Miller (INR 2 crore), Pathum Nissanka (INR 4 crore), Lungi Ngidi (INR 2 crore), Kyle Jamieson (INR 2 crore), Prithvi Shaw (INR 75 lakh), and Sahil Parakh (INR 30 lakh).
Retained:
Nitish Rana (traded in from RR), Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh Kumar