Delhi Capitals’ new captain Axar Patel on Sunday said that he is honoured to be leading the franchise and confident of the team he’s been entrusted with this IPL season.
He referred to his long-time association with the franchise and said that he has the luxury of getting inputs and support from many experienced leaders in the team.
“When I heard the news (that he’s the captain), I was very confident about the team. I’ve been playing for Delhi Capitals from 2019, and I could grow as a cricketer in this franchise. It’s an honour for me to lead this franchise.
“And there are many leaders in our team. So, I think I get that experience from them. If I’m under pressure, they are there for me. Faf (du Plessis) is there, KL (K.L. Rahul) is there, and many experienced players are there,” he said on the eve of his team’s season opener against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
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He said that his strategy as a captain is to focus on simple and effective execution of basic skills. He emphasised the importance of being flexible as a team when it comes to adapting to the match situation.
“Nowadays, cricket has changed a lot. IPL is more of a batter’s game – fours and sixes. So, as a team, our game has to evolve. At the end of the day, I don’t want to complicate things. As a captain, I told the group to keep it simple. A good yorker is a good yorker ball and if your execution is good, then you will be fine. So, I’m not into telling so much that you should go for this and that. I’m not giving too much information. I’m just telling to keep it simple. And that’s my strategy throughout the tournament.
“From the last season, we learned that you have to be ahead of the game. You can’t be chasing the game. So, from now, we have to be ahead with our plans. It’s not that in the Powerplay, we have to swing the ball or bowl length balls. We can bowl a few slower balls.
“We have to change the plan according to the situation. This is something I learned from the last season. So, this season, we have to be ahead of the game and deliver in the pressure situations,” he said.
