Delhi Capitals (DC) all-rounder Axar Patel got the desired promotion up the order and he justified it with a 66-run knock against Gujarat Titans (GT) at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Axar was phenomenal in all departments of the game barring the dropped catch of Sai Sudharsan. He became the first Indian all-rounder in 16 years to score a fifty, bag a wicket and take a catch in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
Axar scored 66 runs from 43 balls, took three catches to dismiss Wriddhiman Saha, GT skipper Shubman Gill and Sudharsan. He got the wicket of Azmatullah Omarzai as well to enter record books.
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag achieved the feat in the inaugural edition of IPL against Chennai Super Kings. He scored 71 runs, took one wicket and a catch.
There are two overseas all-rounders who have achieved the rare feat for DC as well. In IPL 2010, former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood scored 53 runs, took one wicket and a catch against Kolkata Knight Riders. In IPL 2015, former South Africa all-rounder Jean-Paul Duminy scored 54 runs, bagged four wickets and took two catches against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
This was Axar's first half-century of the season. Recently, Axar said that he is not getting to bat because of the impact player rule. He revealed that he had a conversation with skipper Rishabh Pant, head coach Ricky Ponting and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly.
After DC lost three wickets in the powerplay overs, Axar shared a 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Pant. This was the third-highest partnership against GT in the IPL.
What Axar said after his half-century
After DC posted 224/4 on the board, Axar hailed it as a phenomenal effort. He also explained the role he was given against GT.
“My role was to take on the three spinners, the talk was that we should take the partnership as deep as possible, the ball wasn't coming onto the bat, was a slow pitch. The mindset is very important, you can't think about playing off a bowler, the mindset was to be attacking, take the single and twos on offer and keep rotating the strike,” the 30-year-old told the broadcasters.
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