Axar Patel has emerged as one of the top performers for the franchise this season. DC registered their second victory of the season against SRH on Monday, and the all-rounder was their saviour again.
He scored 34 runs with the bat to rescue their batting, then bowled a brilliant spell, taking two wickets with a decent figure of 2/21 in his four overs. The left-arm spinner picked up Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram, thus significantly crippling Hyderabad in the run chase.
And after his fantastic performance, there were praises galore for the Gujarat-born player. Former India player Sunil Gavaskar had only good things to say and he opined Axar must be chosen as DC captain, replacing David Warner.
“I believe Axar Patel should be appointed the captain of Delhi Capitals. He is an honest player. He’s in a good rhythm. The Indian team can benefit from him being named the captain of the franchise and performing well. All these things should be done in a long run,” Gavaskar said.
Axar has been one of the key performers for DC in a tumultuous IPL season. Their nightmare start to the first half of the season has turned for the better in the last two matches, and Axar has played a major part in it.
He was instrumental in the latter stages of the KKR victory, and then came up with a player of the match show against SRH. After the SRH match, Axar was asked about his rich vein of form and the player jokingly said he is planning to renovate his house to accommodate all his individual trophies.
The southpaw has picked up 6 wickets in seven matches so far, and is the highest wicket-taker in the Delhi Capitals camp. His batting contribution is also heavy so far, as the former Punjab Kings player has amassed 182 runs with an average of 30 and a strike rate of 135.
