Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra questioned Axar Patel’s captaincy after Delhi Capitals suffered a six-wicket loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. Patel gave the penultimate over of the innings to Mukesh Kumar when RCB needed 17 runs to win off the last two overs.
Tim David smashed Kumar for 17 runs off the first three balls to take his team over the line. Chopra reckons Mitchell Starc should have bowled the 19th over of the innings but Axar Patel missed a trick. Starc had conceded 31 runs in the three overs he had bowled, but without any wicket.
Meanwhile, the Australian had turned the match on its head when he had defended nine runs in the final over against the Rajasthan Royals and then also bowled a good Super Over as he had nailed his yorkers.
“A question remained in my mind for sure. Sir Axar Patel, what will you do with Mitchell Starc’s over? I am not saying the match would have changed. Abishek Porel dropped a catch earlier. If he had taken the catch, the match might have changed,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“After that, who will you bowl when 18 runs are required in two overs? Obviously, while defending, the 19th over is more important than the 20th, but you didn’t get Starc to bowl. That was a blunder in capital letters. Dushmantha Chameera also bowled well. His one over was also left. I felt it was a big mistake by Axar Patel,” he added.
Meanwhile, RCB lost three early wickets in the run-chase but Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya steadied the ship. While Kohli scored 51 runs off 47 balls, Pandya scored an unbeaten knock of 73 runs off 47 balls. Pandya and Kohli added 119 runs for the fourth wicket to help their team get over the line.
“The start was slightly bad, and when Rajat (Patidar) got run out, one wondered what was going to happen. However, Krunal Pandya came there. He has only two half-centuries in the IPL. Suresh (Raina) was saying that he scored a half-century after 3000 days, but it was so timely and came in such incredible fashion,” Chopra said.
Chopra lauded Krunal Pandya for his brilliant knock as he batted at the top of his game.
“The way he batted, he was stellar in capital letters. He hit three sixes, two against Mukesh Kumar and one against Kuldeep Yadav, when it seemed like the match was hanging in the balance, and that was game, set and match,” Chopra observed.
Delhi Capitals will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Tuesday.
