On April 11, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Delhi Capitals (DC) by six wickets in an exciting last-ball outcome. The five-time champions won for the first time this IPL season with this victory.
After winning the toss, MI made the decision to bowl first. After 12.3 overs, the hosts were in a difficult situation at 98/5, however, Axar Patel’s splendid 50 years (54 runs off 25 balls) assisted them with making something happen.
David Warner also reached 50 runs (51 off 47 balls), but he had trouble scoring quickly. Due to a late collapse, DC dropped from 165/5 after 18 overs to 172 all-out in 19.4 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Rohit Sharma were swiftly dismissed, but DC returned to the match. Cameron Green and Tim David kept them in check with their quick cameos and led MI to victory off the final ball.
DC will be sorry that it missed the catch and tried to run out in the final over. While Mukesh Kumar dropped the catch, Anrich Nortje and captain David Warner both neglected to make the most of the run-out open doors.
DC will need to make significant personnel adjustments if they are to regain their place in the competition after losing four of their last four games. The move of Axar Patel up the batting order is one of the few modifications that critics have suggested.
In light of this, let’s talk about three reasons why Axar Patel ought to move up the batting order.
#1 Axar Patel is in great shape
With the bat this year, Axar Patel has been in great shape. He has scored 31* runs in 20 balls, 65 runs in 31 balls, and 21* runs in 9 balls in the three matches he has played in 2023. In the Border-Gavaskar Test series, he continued his good form by scoring three crucial fifties in just six innings on difficult pitches.
He scored a magnificent fifty in a flash yesterday on a challenging surface in Delhi. He played at a strike rate of 216 and was the only batter from the Delhi Capitals who appeared poised. Hence, Axar Patel coming at No.7 is past the point of no return for a player with his capacities, and in particular, his structure.
#2 He bats with his left hand
With Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, and Lalit Yadav in the top and middle orders, moving Axar Patel up the batting order will give the team a left-handed batsman in the middle innings. DC will be able to better tackle spinners in the middle overs if they bat with left and right hands together.
#3 Excellent spin player
Axar Patel is an excellent spin player. He can attack spinners in middle overs because he played most of his cricket in India. With center-request players like Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell battling against the turn in the center overs, Patel can take the assault to the resistance.