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Legendary Indian Premier League (IPL) batter Chris Gayle feels David Warner’s diminishing strike rate is the reason behind Delhi Capitals (DC) middle-order batters’ poor run in the season so far. Warner has scored three half-centuries in IPL 2023 so far and is a contender for Orange Cap but his strike rate has been under the scanner.
In the clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 12, Warner started off well in the powerplay overs but slowed down in the middle overs. He scored 51 runs from 47 deliveries and could not find boundaries in the death overs. Had it not been for Axar Patel’s quickfire half-century, Capitals would not have been able to post a fighting total of 172 on the board.
"In the first 6 overs, he showed a bit of intent and tried to be positive there. The wicket was very good to bat on in the powerplay. But he is putting a lot of pressure on himself and the other players as well. Players feel they have to come in… he is not getting to ball away, they pretty much have to go from ball one and that is causing Delhi a lot of problems in the middle," Gayle told Jio Cinema.
"So that's something he needs to work on. He is experienced enough to know what to do. He spoke about it in the previous game," he added.
DC are yet to register their first victory of the season in the absence of an injured Rishabh Pant. Their top-order barring Warner has not fired and overseas recruits including Rovman Powell, Mitchell Marsh have not lived upto their potential.
Axar who has carried on his form and made fans wonder why he is batting in lower-middle order also talked about Warner’s inability to score freely.
“If you talk about the last two-three games, he is trying, but it's just not happening for him. I don't know what he is thinking as a batter at that time," the all-rounder said.
"Even when he is trying, it's not coming off. Everyone spoke to him -- (head coach) Ricky (Ponting), (Shane) Watson, Dada (Sourav Ganguly). The conversation about his strike rate also came up. They looked at his videos and he's working on it," he further added.
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