Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson was pleased by Axar Patel's ability to put in significant performances and drive his team, Delhi Capitals (D,C) to another crisp triumph over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025. He also remarked that LSg required a similar innings from their captain, Rishabh Pant.
Axar bowled four overs at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, finishing with statistics of 0/29. More crucially, his economy rate outperformed Kuldeep Yadav, who went wicketless for the first time in IPL 2025.
With the bat, Axar stood up to add the final touches, smashing 34 not out off 20 balls as DC finished the chase of 160 in 17.5 overs. All of this meant that Axar was obviously the superior captain on display than his LSG counterpart Rishabh Pant, who was dismissed for a duck after walking out to bat at number seven.
“The pitch did get better to bat on, but it was Axar Patel’s intent from ball one that stood out. LSG didn’t bowl particularly well to him early on, but he capitalized. It was the kind of innings LSG needed from Rishabh Pant.
Axar stood up for his team, bowled his four overs straight, led from the front, and made an impact. You can see he really wants to play his part as skipper—something we haven’t quite seen from Rishabh," said Watson on JioHotstar.
Axar put on an undefeated 56-run stand with KL Rahul, who scored 57 not out for his third fifty of the season.
Facing LSG for the first time since his less-than-pleasant exit from the franchise, Rahul also surpassed the IPL milestone of 5000 runs, being the quickest batter to do so (in 130 innings) and finishing the chase with a six.
“KL Rahul just did what he does best—batted with complete control. He didn’t need to take risks, just played a steady hand and picked his moments. What stands out is his ability to switch gears—he’s taken the game on throughout the tournament, but today he was calm, composed, and calculated. That kind of flexibility gives Delhi Capitals so much depth," added Watson.
Watson also hailed pacer Mukesh Kumar for his powerful 4-33 spell in the middle overs, with his yorker outperforming Mitchell Marsh.
“Mukesh Kumar bowled really well. He made the most of the ball reversing early—the yorker that got Mitchell Marsh swung a fair bit. Marsh was batting beautifully, so that was a big wicket. Mukesh ran in with full commitment and did a great job targeting key wickets in the middle overs,” he added.
Ambati Rayudu, the former India batter, analyzed Abishek Porel’s knock of 51, his first fifty of the season, and felt he should have finished the chase.
“It was a very good innings from Porel. He wasn’t always in complete control—there were a few streaky shots—but everything came off for him. Ideally, he should’ve carried his bat and finished the game, like KL Rahul did. He can learn from that. His striking was impressive, but he can work on his batsmanship—maybe pick more boundaries along the ground like Sai Sudharsan. Still, a decent knock overall," he said.
(IANS inputs)
