It was not a great day for both captains on the field at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Both Axar Patel and Ajinkya Rahane got injured and had others take over the captaincy as they got medical attention in the dugout. While Rahane was a happy man as Sunil Narine took over and helped KKR beat DC by 14 runs, Axar came out to bat in pain and his wicket turned out to be the turning point of the game.
"My hand dragged on the surface, so the skin peeled off. So whenever I tried batting, it was paining. We have three-four days gap before SRH game, so I hope to recover," Axar said in the post-match presentation.
In the slog overs, Axar left the field and Faf du Plessis was seen making field changes. He had help from KL Rahul as well. The left-handed batter arrived at the crease in the seventh over. He hit three sixes and four fours in his 23-ball 43 before Sunil Narine dismissed him. Earlier, he was impressive with the ball. From his quota of four overs, he claimed two wickets and conceded 27 runs. His scalps were skipper Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer.
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There is a question mark over Axar's availability for their next game. They will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on May 5. They suffered their fourth defeat from 10 games but are still placed fourth on the points table.
Rahane gives update on hand injury
On the other hand, Rahane brushed off any concerns regarding his injury. He contributed with a cameo to help KKR retain momentum. The top-order batter scored 26 runs from 14 balls, including four fours and a six.
"Not bad. I will be okay. I will be fine," Rahane said after the match.
Rahane has time to recover as well. Their next game is at home against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 4. RR are high-on confidence after 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi's record-breaking ton helped them outplay Gujarat Titans (GT).
KKR are still alive in the playoffs race with nine points from 10 games. They need to treat their next four games as must-win clashes to make it into top four.