Delhi Capitals captain Akshar Patel believes that if the openers (Sahil Parekh and KL Rahul) and number three batsman, Nitish Rana, had stayed at the crease for a little longer, the situation would have been different. On Monday, Delhi suffered a humiliating defeat in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Batting first, DC were all out for just 75 runs. RCB achieved the target with 81 balls remaining and registered a big win by 9 wickets.
Speaking after the match, Axar Patel said, “I still don’t understand exactly what happened. That’s why it is said that in cricket you always have to be alert. The ‘ifs and buts’—’if this had happened, or that’—will always be there, but you have to perform every day. You can’t let your guard down even a single day.” Patel further said, “Instead of thinking about what has happened, it is better to focus on what is going to happen next. Whether you think negative or positive, you have to go on the field and play. Today’s match was not good for us, but we should remain positive and keep doing what we have been doing till now.”
Did you take jibe at KL Rahul and Nitish Rana?
On the fact that Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s balls were swinging and seaming, Axar Patel commented, “I am not surprised at all. They are world-class bowlers. If our openers and number three batsmen had lasted just one or two more overs, things would have been different.” It is worth noting that in the very first over, Bhuvneshwar clean bowled Sahil Parekh (0). In the very next over, Josh Hazlewood dismissed KL Rahul (1) and Sameer Rizvi (0) on two consecutive balls. After this, Tristan Stubbs was out after scoring 5 runs, and Axar Patel was out without scoring any runs (on a duck). The fourth wicket—that of Nitish Rana, who had come to bat at number three—fell when the team’s score was just 8 runs. After falling 6 wickets for just 8 runs, it seemed that that unwanted record of RCB would be broken today. It is noteworthy that the record of lowest score in the history of IPL is still in the name of RCB; In 2017, Bangalore was all out for just 49 runs against Kolkata.