Axar Patel, Delhi Capital’s left arm spinner,made a brilliant contribution in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was his first match in IPL 2021 as he was tested positive for COVID 19. With an economy rate of 6.75, Patel helped DC to register a win against SRH in a super over.
In the post match presentation, Patel revealed that it was his decision to bowl the super over & said
“When I was in the dressing room, I was thinking that on this wicket, a spinner would be pretty effective. When I came out of the dressing room, the coach and everyone were talking. The initial thought was to go with a fast bowler – Avesh Khan – because they would send a left-right combination,”
“After that, when we were just stepping onto the ground, I thought a spinner would be more effective. So I told Rishabh that I could also bowl the over. Then he spoke to Ricky [Ponting], and it was decided at the last moment that I would bowl,”
he further said.
He definitely played an important role in DC’s win as he took back-to-back wickets in 17th over which slowed down the run rate for SRH.
“Even before Covid I was bowling well, in Test matches, and then I bowled in the T20Is too. So, I was carrying the same confidence. I wasn’t thinking much that I have had Covid. After recovering from Covid, if I still keep thinking about it that I lost 20 days… obviously it was frustrating, but I wasn’t thinking much about it,”
said Patel.
Next challenge for Delhi Capitals will be Royal Challengers Bangalore on 27th April.