Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 23 (ANI): Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel shed light on his ideology behind the rotation of his bowlers, the reason behind his limited outing with the ball, and one area they can improve as the 18th Indian Premier League (IPL) slowly heads towards the business end of its group stage.
After floundering against table-topper Gujarat Titans, Delhi returned to winning ways after KL Rahul silenced his former home with a sizzling 57* and steered his side to an emphatic eight-wicket triumph against his ex-side Lucknow Super Giants. With a commanding display, Axar’s troops dictated the terms of play with the ball, even though the opening pair, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh, exhibited aggression in patches.
DC’s patience eventually paid off after Dushmantha Chameera broke the 89-run opening stand by removing Markram from the picture. From that moment, Delhi hunted in packs, sent shivers down Lucknow’s spine and broke the backbone of their middle order, forcing them to limp to a mediocre 159/6.
“The way we started with the ball, we didn’t take wickets, but we were in control of the game. Once we picked up two quick wickets, we got the momentum, and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160,” Axar said in the post-match presentation.
During Delhi’s spirited performance, Axar bowled his full quota of four overs, a rare sight to see in the ongoing edition. His influence with the ball has been limited in comparison to the rest of the bowling unit, considering he has bowled just 23 overs in comparison to Kuldeep Yadav (32), Mitchell Starc (29) and Mukesh Kumar (26).
During Delhi’s pulsating clash against Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans, he bowled just eight out of his available 16 overs. He finally spilt the beans about his limited appearance with the ball and said, “I have a slight injury, which is why I haven’t been bowling much so far, and today I felt in good rhythm and bowled up front.”
Throughout the season so far, Axar has rotated his bowlers heavily in the powerplay, lining up different bowling pairs and making them work in tandem. This time around in Lucknow, he took the mantle upon himself and Mitchell Starc to provide a steady start to the innings.
“I was also looking at the match-ups (whenever I made a bowling change), and that is how I rotated my bowlers, and all of them responded very well. I always play according to my strengths. Whenever I walk out to bat, it doesn’t matter which position I am batting, and I have been getting success whenever I try to line up a bowler, so I’m feeling good,” he added.
While Delhi has been soaring to new heights in the batting and bowling spectrums, fielding has been one aspect of their game that demands consistency. DC continued with its trend of dropping catches, and the evidence of it was visible in the 15th over.
Ayush Badoni, who came in as an impact substitute, was batting at 3(4) when he skied his shot towards sweeper cover, and Tristan Stubbs came running in, got both of his hands on the ball, but eventually floored it. He went on to play a flashy cameo of 36(21), which powered LSG to 159/6. Overall, before the fixture, Delhi had the third-worst figures in terms of catching efficiency, with a percentage of 71.4 per cent.
“We can improve our fielding a bit. The drop chances will be crucial during crunch games going ahead,” Axar remarked.
During Delhi’s pursuit of a mere 160-run target, DC’s opening pair Karun Nair and Abishek Porel began quickly, notching up 15 runs off the 1st over, but the 33-year-old batter soon departed.
Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul joined Porel at the crease, and the pair stitched up a 69-run stand, with the young opener picking up his first half-century of the season. After Porel fell, Rahul continued to dock the innings as captain Axar Patel changed against spinners and extinguished any glimpse of hope of an LSG fightback. Rahul, who went unbeaten, guided his team home with a stylish six and brought up his fifty as DC cruised to the win by eight wickets. (ANI)
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HINDI, MARATHI, GUJARATI, TAMIL, TELUGU, BENGALI, KANNADA, ORIYA, PUNJABI, URDU, MALAYALAM
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