Axar Patel admitted he may have misjudged his bowling changes during Delhi Capitals’ opening game against Lucknow Super Giants, as he ended up not completing his full quota of overs. The skipper introduced himself early in the powerplay and delivered two tidy overs, picking up the key wicket of Aiden Markram. He later returned to bowl the 11th over but did not come back again, leaving one over unused by the end of the innings, a call he felt he could have managed better.
The DC skipper bowled an economical spell of just 17 runs in his three overs at an economy of under 6.
Reflecting on his bowling decisions, Patel admitted he could have managed his overs better after ending the game without completing his full quota.
“You see how the match is going, there was a bigger and smaller boundary, and I was seeing who I can bowl, in the end I might have miscalculated 1-2 overs (ek over idhar-udhar ho gya),” Axar said in the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, with the bat, uncapped Sameer Rizvi emerged as the difference-maker, guiding Delhi Capitals to a crucial win after an early collapse. Chasing a modest target, Delhi were reeling at 26 for 4 before Rizvi took charge. He remained unbeaten on 70, finding solid support from Tristan Stubbs, who scored 39*. The duo stitched together an unbroken 119-run partnership, calmly rebuilding the innings and steering Delhi home with composure.
Speaking about the team’s approach with the Impact Player rule, Axar explained that Delhi Capitals had kept both Rizvi and Ashutosh Sharma as flexible options depending on how the game unfolded, ultimately backing Rizvi to step in and deliver under pressure.
“The plan was to play Rizvi, but also have the option of Ashutosh Sharma. Maybe if we had not lost those early wickets then things might have been different. But yes, last year Ashu did well to win us the first game and this time Rizvi. He (Rizvi) works hard on his game and keeps asking how he can improve himself,” Axar said.
“Happy with the bowling effort”: Axar
Looking back at the situation after early wickets, Axar Patel acknowledged the pressure during the middle phase but lauded the team’s calm approach and strong bowling display that kept them in the game.
“It finished early but middle it became close. We just needed one partnership and that’s what we spoke about in the break. Very happy with the bowling effort. When we started with the ball, we knew there was a bit of help for the bowlers, that was communicated to whoever was coming onto bowl,” he added.
