IPL 2023: Warner Explains Why Axar Was Hold Back
It was sixth loss of the season for Delhi which kept them bottom of the points table.
Crickate
Saturday's defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad kept the Delhi Capitals at the bottom of the table with just two victories in eight contests. Fans on social media platforms were perplexed by the team's tactics during the SRH match in Delhi, which raised some concerns. In pursuit of 198 runs, the DC were the more dominant team in the run chase, having reached 115/3 in the 12th over. After Manish Pandey was dismissed, the Capitals sent in Priyam Garg and then an out-of-form Sarfaraz Khan to bat.
While Priyam was only able to score 12 runs off of 9 deliveries, Sarfaraz had a rather forgettable performance, scoring 9 runs off of 10 deliveries. Axar Patel, who has been in excellent form with the bat, arrived at the crease with his team needing to score 58 runs in 26 deliveries to win. Despite achieving a strike rate of 207.14 on fourteen deliveries encountered, Axar was unable to lead DC to victory, leaving Capitals fans furious with the tactics employed by team management.
David Warner, who suffered a rare failure in the game (0 off 2 balls), was questioned about Axar's batting position after the match and acknowledged it was a difficult decision.
"He is in fine form, but we got off to a strong start. With him in the back end, we knew it would be crucial when facing left-handed spinners. Only myself and Axar were left-handed hitters on our team. Holding Axar until the end can be challenging, but there are challenges we face when we're in that situation. Perhaps we could consider dispatching him a little earlier," Warner suggested.
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Axar has scored 211 runs in eight matches while batting in the lower-middle order for Capitals. With a decent strike rate of 142.57, the left-handed Axar has been primarily DC's savior despite their struggles in the batting order.
