Who is Sahil Parakh? Delhi Capitals’ 18-year-old IPL debutant replacing Pathum Nissanka during DC vs RCB
In a bold call, Delhi Capitals have handed 18-year-old Sahil Parakh his debut cap in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The development came in when after Axar Patel announced Parakh at the coin toss.
A left-handed batter, Parakh replaced Sri Lankan Pathum Nissanka at the top and will open the batting alongside KL Rahul, who just smashed a record-breaking 152 not out against Punjab Kings in a losing encounter. It must be noted that Parakh has played just two T20s before for Maharashtra.
The decision to hand Parakh an IPL debut comes as a tactical change according to Axar. With Lungi Ngidi out of the match due to his head head injury in the last game and Mukesh Kumar not at his best, the Delhi Capitals management decided to bring in Kyle Jamieson and Dusmantha Chameera to bolster their bowling attack.
With Tristan Stubbs and David Miller in the middle order and only four foreigners allowed, the axe certainly fell on Nissanka. “Two fast bowlers – Dushmantha Chameera and Kyle Jamieson – and an opener Sahil Parakh, who is making his debut. The changes are because of what happened to Lungi in the last match,” Axar said during the coin toss.
All you need to know about Sahil Parakh
Born in Nashik, Parakh was picked by Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2026 auction for ₹30 lakh. His ability to bat with flair and fearlessness combined with his leg-spin makes him one of the future T20 stars to watch out for.
Parakh came into limelight when he scored an unbeaten 109 in just 75 balls for India U-19 against Australia in an Youth ODI in 2024-25. The southpaw impressed the Delhi Capitals scouts with his exploits in the Maharashtra Premier League, while representing Eagle Titans (scoring 202 runs at an impressive strike rate of 177.19).
DC vs RCB playing XIs
Delhi Capitals: Sahil Parakh, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Axar Patel(c), Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
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