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With a smile on his face, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel was glad that some questions about his on-field decisions could be avoided as impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma came to the rescue and steered them to a narrow one-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
In a game defined by fine margins in Visakhapatnam, Axar's decisions during the first innings certainly caught the spectators' eye. His decision to throw in Tristan Stubbs against Nicholas Pooran in the 13th over instead of spinner Kuldeep Yadav or a paced raised eyebrows of many. Pooran smoked the ball into the stands on four successive deliveries to garner 28 runs and further exacerbate DC's woes. Axar admitted that some of his captaincy decisions would not be questioned since they were able to pull a rabbit out of the hat and leave the stadium with a victory. "Make it a habit that this is how it's going to be under my captaincy. My decision-making is also a bit up and down like this, [so anything can happen]. Sometimes there will be anger also [from fans]. Right now, we won, so no one will say anything," he said in the post-match presentation. While reflecting on the game, Axar was quick to note how his side handsomely gave away runs, and Sameer Rizvi's dropped catch of Pooran led to their initial struggle. However, they found momentum and confidence by restricting LSG close to the 210, which looked destined to breach the 250-run mark. "I think the way they played the first six overs, I felt we gave away too many runs. We dropped a catch too. But we stopped them well in the last seven overs. So we had the momentum. When you see 250 could have been made, but you stop them around 200, you feel confident. The way the players have been working hard, and we all know the potential we have," he added. After LSG rattled the Capitals early, the hosts were reeling away at 65/5 and appeared to be down and out in pursuit of a 210-run target. Ashutosh Sharma emerged out of nowhere and knocked the Super Giants off the perch with his unbeaten 66(31). While the 26-year-old stole all the limelight, Axar showered praise on young Vipraj Nigam, who provided the much-needed firepower with his belligerent 39(15) when Ashutosh was still shifting through gears. "To bat in the first match in a pressure situation like this, credit goes to [Vipraj Nigam], and hopefully, they will continue to do well," he concluded. (ANI)
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