Follow UsDelhi Capitals (DC) missed their regular skipper Axar Patel big time against Mumbai Indians (MI) in a must-win encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 21 (Wednesday) as they eventually lost the game and crashed out of the race for qualification for the playoffs.
DC head coach Hemang Badani mentioned that Axar’s spin on a slow deck like Mumbai, combined with his batting ability to cancel out the left-arm spin of MI’s Mitchell Santner, who turned out to be the game changer with his spell of 3/11 in four overs, could have proved to be game-changing.
“Someone like Axar Patel would have made a massive difference for us. [A] left-arm spinner of his calibre on this surface and also with his batting ability, would have countered Santner. But as I said, the better team won,” Badani said at the post-match press conference after his team’s massive 59-run loss.
Axar, who was the captain of the Capitals, was ruled out ahead of this all-important game due to sickness.