New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) Delhi Capitals (DC) middle-order batter Tristan Stubbs said he has no reservations about batting at No.3 if the team demands it, adding that his past experiences of holding the fort in tough situations will come of huge help if slotted in the top order for their upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash against Punjab Kings.

DC, with three wins from six games, will be looking to arrest their inconsistency in the competition when they host table-toppers PBKS, who remain the only unbeaten team in IPL 2026, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon.

Stubbs has drawn attention for his calmness while playing a big part in bailing DC out of tough situations against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), with scores of 39 not out and 60 not out, respectively. In all, Stubbs has aggregated 196 runs from six innings at an average of 65.3 and a strike rate of 137.

“I think being in the middle order in general, you come in different situations all the time. So you are sort of mentally prepared for that, but you also have past experiences you have had in those types of situations. So, I don’t really mind where I come in. Then, going up the order, if the team asks me to do it, I will be more than happy to do it. So, yeah, that’s about it,” Stubbs told reporters on the eve of the match.

He credited his adaptability to shift gears as per the situation to a career spent batting across multiple positions, and the experience gained through playing Test cricket for South Africa.

“Like I said, I have batted through my whole career pretty much. I have batted three in one game and six in the next game. So, it changes all the time, and that sort of allowed me, with Test cricket, to be able to try and change gears and do what I think is right out there.

“Those two games, fortunately, the rate never got away from us. So, there was always one partnership in both those games, and that’s about it. I firmly believe in batting in partnerships, and that’s what I try to do my best,” he said.

But Stubbs’ overall scoring rate this season has remained on the conservative side. In IPL 2026, he has been too slow and failed to accelerate in the manner he managed to do in the last two editions. The breakdown of his strike rates across phases, as per stats from Cricket-21, highlights the dip in Stubbs’ tempo.

Since 2024, his strike rate in the first 10 balls has hovered around 127, but in 2026, it has dropped to 118. The middle phase (balls 11–20) has seen a sharper decline – from 282 in 2024 and 189 in 2025 to just 144 this season. For balls above 21, Stubbs’ finishing burst has also lost some sting, sliding from 233 in 2024 and 155 in 2025 to 149 in 2026.

One can hope that Stubbs’ potential promotion to No.3 can arrest this slide and bring about a turnaround in his strike rates across phases. On what to expect from the pitch for the high-stakes mid-season clash, Stubbs said, “I think from the World Cup to still here now, we haven’t really seen here like an absolute belter. So, it will probably be pretty similar. Hopefully, it’s really low, ragging, and 120 plays 120 – that’ll be great,” he said with a smile.

DC have faced questions about their batting consistency this season, including their inability to chase down anything 200 and beyond. But Stubbs pushed back against the notion, adding that once the small moments align together, they can show their best batting performance in the competition.

“I think it seemed worse because we’ve been chasing every game. But the other day, we lost three wickets in an over, pretty much, and we didn’t bat very well. We still made 190 or something. So, yes, we haven’t had that perfect innings.

“On a bad day, we have won three out of six. But also, when we’ve lost it, we’ve still scored 190. We know a couple of small moments here and there in the games that we’re scoring these big scores. We’re not too worried. Everyone’s really positive and everyone’s batting well, so that’s quite exciting,” he signed off.

–IANS

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