Delhi Capitals’ Axar Patel batted at number three against Gujarat Titans. That was unusual. He helped Delhi after they struggled early on. DC were in trouble at 44/3. But Axar Patel played well. He scored an important 66 runs from 43 balls. The left-hander steadied Delhi’s innings with his knock. It came at Delhi’s home ground, Arun Jaitley Stadium, on April 24.
Axar Patel, who had lately expressed dissatisfaction with batting lower down the order due to the impact player rule, came into bat in the fourth over following Jake Fraser-McGurk’s departure.
He was joined by skipper Rishabh Pant on the other end after Shai Hope and Prtihvi Shaw were ejected in rapid succession at the end of the powerplay.
Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant, both left-handed, put up 113 runs for the fourth wicket to help DC rebuild its innings. Axar Patel swapped gears as the innings went, eventually falling to Noor Ahmad in the 17th over. The all-rounder scored five fours and four sixes, with a strike rate of 153.49.
Cricket enthusiasts applauded Axar Patel’s batting performance. They argued vigorously that he should be selected for India’s T20 World Cup team, taking Ravindra Jadeja spot.
Here are some reactions on Twitter:
“This innings itself shows Axar will be an upgrade over Jadeja in WC team,” one fan wrote.
“I was skeptical about you playing at no. 3 but you were astounding!” another fan remarked.
“Jadeja watching Axar’s batting against GT before the T-20 world cup,” one fan included a funny video as well.
Axar Patel’s knock against GT marked his highest IPL score
The all-rounder earned his second IPL fifty, which he converted into his best score of the league. He hit 54 runs off 25 deliveries in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Mumbai Indians (MI), his first fifty.
He recorded his most prolific season as a batter in the 2023 season as the rest of the DC batting unit struggled.
“My role was to take on the three spinners, the talk was that we should take the partnership as deep as possible, the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat, was a slow pitch.”
Axar Patel
In a breathtaking performance, he etched an unforgettable 65 runs off just 31 deliveries. This remarkable feat took place as he donned the national colors during the thrilling bilateral T20 series against Sri Lanka in 2023.