After Delhi Capitals (DC) folded for 75 and suffered a huge defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Delhi, Piyush Chawla said it was “not the time to panic.”

“There will be some panic around for sure, knowing the history of Delhi Capitals. But that’s not the right time [for it] now,” Chawla said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “They need to sit together, discuss about it, and they have to start fresh – because they started off pretty well in the tournament, and it’s not like in three weeks, the team has changed or the way of playing has changed.”

Two days after posting their highest total in the IPL, DC crumbled to their third-lowest total, against RCB, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. They started the season strongly with back-to-back wins, but then managed just one win in their next six games, with dropped catches at crucial stages hurting them. On Saturday, Karun Nair dropped Shreyas Iyer twice as Punjab Kings (PBKS) went onto secure the highest successful T20 chase.

“Later, in the business end of the tournament, when they look back at it, those two points will definitely come to haunt them if they are not qualifying [for the playoffs],” Chawla said. “So right now is the time [when] they just have to forget everything and move on, start playing some positive cricket, and just make sure there’s a very positive environment in the dressing room because that plays a huge role.

“When things are not going your way, it’s very, very easy for any team to just scatter and just talk behind the back that this guy would have done this, this guy would have done that, he would have taken that single, this guy would have taken that catch.”

In the previous season, DC had started with four wins a in row, but won only three of their next ten games. They eventually finished fifth, and missed out on the playoffs, for which they had last qualified in 2021.

“The most difficult thing [for DC] is to just come together, sit together, and talk about it, and just say, ‘Okay, now that is gone’. These things are not in our control, and still we are in it,” Chawla said. “We are not out of the tournament, and we are the same team who has done well in the past, we have won four-five games on the trot last year as well and still we didn’t qualify. But this year we have to change the history, and just go out there, express yourself, and play with positive intent.

“That’s all you can say because it’s not about the skill level here right now because everyone is very skillful – that’s why they are playing here – it’s just about being positive and the leader needs to take that initiative, and make sure everyone is held together.”

DC will next face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on May 1.