DC have now lost 7 of their 11 matches in the ongoing IPL season.
Invited to bat first, DC could only manage 142/8 in 20 overs, while their spinners, including Axar, Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav, conceded 102 runs in nine overs combined.
Axar impressed with figures of 1 for 27 in four overs, but Kuldeep (0-41 in 3 overs) and Vipraj (0-34 in 2 overs) endured a tough outing as KKR opener Finn Allen produced a whirlwind century (100* off 47 balls) to take his team over the line with 34 deliveries to spare.
Speaking after the game, Axar admitted DC’s total was "below par" and that a cluster of wickets in a short span destroyed their momentum. He added that the spinners made crucial mistakes on a track that offered assistance.
“I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors. But at the same time, if you notice, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that’s where the momentum slipped away from us. That’s probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK, we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling,” Axar said at the post-match presentation.
“(So how do you solve that now?) See, you can’t solve it in a complicated way. While Ashutosh and I were batting, we were thinking that if we made a mistake there, it would become very difficult for the next batter coming in. So I think it’s more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that’s what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two,” he added.
Axar indicated the team will analyze their mistakes and begin planning for the future, including assessing opportunities for players currently on the bench.
“For now we’ll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there’s still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we’ll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take. Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make,” he remarked.