"My form these days is down to lady luck" - Axar Patel on his all-round performance against SRH in IPL 2023
Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Axar Patel was adjudged the Player of the Match for his exploits in the team's win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday, April 24. The franchise vice-captain stepped up with both bat and ball, scoring 34 crucial runs and claiming two wickets with the ball as well.
Patel walked in to bat with the scorecard reading 62-5 after Washington Sundar had rattled the DC batting unit with three wickets in an over. The all-rounder scored a run-a-ball 34, stretching DC's total to 144 in the first innings. He then took the wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram to finish with figures of 2-21 off his four overs.
He has been one of the top performers for DC in a season that has been far from optimum for them. Speaking about his rich vein of form, Axar Patel told Mukesh Kumar in a post-match interaction:
"My form these days is down to lady luck, I will give you 100 marks for guessing that. Also, I am feeling confident, I played well in the Tests and I have also batted well in T20s for the last one year with India, so just carrying that confidence forward. It is very important to maintain consistency."
Axar Patel tied the knot in January 2023 and came into the IPL on the back of a great Border-Gavaskar series, where he was among the leading run scorers. In the ongoing campaign, he has scored 182 runs at a strike rate of 135.82, with skipper Warner himself admitting that the all-rounder should come up the batting order. Additionally, he has taken six wickets at an economy of 7.05.
"I thought that the deeper you take your innings on this wicket, the better it will be" - Axar Patel
The all-rounder's scratchy knock was far from pleasing to watch, but it got the job done. His partnership with Manish Pandey was match-defining, giving the bowlers a chance to defend, which they ultimately did successfully.
Sharing his thoughts and eventual approach while batting, Axar Patel said:
"The general idea was that it was a slow wicket, because it was being discussed in the dugout as well. So, I thought that the deeper you take your innings on this wicket, the better it will be. Me and Manish decided that we will take on the bowlers in the last 3-4 overs and began rotating strike."
DC and SRH will lock horns once again on Saturday, April 29, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in a bid to get out of the pile at the bottom of the points table.