Chennai, 26 April 2021: The JSW and GMR co-owned franchise Delhi Capitals pulled off a close match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the VIVO IPL 2021 here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. After the scores were levelled at 159 by the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the end of their designated 20 overs, Delhi Capitals all-rounder Axar Patel put his hand up to help his team seal the deal in the Super Over.
“After the scores were levelled, I told Rishabh (Pant) that I could bowl well on this wicket, and he could consider me for the Super Over as well. I knew that it was not going to be easy for the batsmen to score runs on this pitch. Then Rishabh spoke to Ricky (Ponting) and they decided to give the ball to me,” said the 27-year-old, who conceded just 7 runs in the Super Over.
Axar, who played his first match after recovering from COVID-19, said that he was emotional to be playing alongside his teammates again, “I was nervous before the game, but once I did some warm-up sessions with the team, I was fine. I was emotional to be amongst my close friends and teammates again since I was back in action after being in quarantine for 20 days, but everyone backed me to do well, and they trusted me even more than I trusted myself.”
When asked if he changed his preparation plan for the match against SRH because of the 20-day quarantine period, Axar said, “I didn’t change my preparation plan for this match in anyway. I followed the routine that I usually follow. I didn’t think much about the fact that I am coming out of 20 days of quarantine. I just wanted to carry forward the rhythm I had in the Test series against England. and I wanted to stay in a positive frame of mind. Yes, I did practice more than usual because I came back after a break from cricket, but I followed my usual routines during practice.”
The all-rounder expressed that the Delhi Capitals, who defeated Mumbai Indians in their last match, couldn’t have asked for a better outing in Chennai, “We won two out of two matches in Chennai, so we couldn’t have put in a better performance at this venue. And when a close match falls in the team’s favour, then the team’s confidence gets a major boost. We haven’t discussed about our plans for the Ahmedabad leg yet. We are taking one match at a time and staying in the present as much as possible.”
The Delhi Capitals are set to face off against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday, 27 April 2021. The Delhi franchise will play a total of four matches in Ahmedabad.
