With the IPL just five days away, teams are beginning to finalize their combinations. Delhi is gearing up for its first match on April 1 against LSG at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Axar Patel has been playing for DC since 2019, last year, he took over the captaincy as the team finished 5th in the point table following a see-saw tournament. As skipper last year, Axar played 12 matches, scoring 263 runs at a strike rate of 157.49 and taking 5 wickets.
Speaking to the media ahead of the tournament, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel said, “If you’ve seen me over the years, I’ve always been the same kind of player. Whatever the team requires, whatever the team needs, that’s what matters. So I think I suit this role, or what people call a ‘crisis man,’ because I always want to step up for what the team needs whether it’s finishing the game or stabilizing the middle order.
Axar added that he will keep the focus on doing what’s needed for the team and shape his role and position accordingly. “When you talk about what’s important for the team, whether someone scores 4 runs off 2 balls or 12 runs off 2 balls, or whether an opener scores 80 everything is important. I go in with that mindset again and again. I never think that I should get a specific role or that I must do only one role. Because when you don’t get that role, you become upset and disappointed, and that starts affecting your game,” said Patel.
Axar stated that he likes to keep things simple but also prepares himself and the team for every situation. “You don’t restrict your mind to just one position. I always tell myself that I can perform any role the team requires. I’m capable of it. It’s not like I can only do one thing.Because, as I said, once you limit yourself to a specific role and you don’t get it, you start feeling low and disappointed. And then you’re not able to give your full 100 percent on the field,” he added.