IPL 2025: Axar stood up, led his team from the front and made an impact, says Watson

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson said he was heavily impressed by how Axar Patel stood up to put in impactful performances and propel his side Delhi Capitals (DC) to another clinical win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025.

At the BRSABV Ekana Stadium, Axar bowled his four overs upfront, with his figures reading 0/29. But more importantly, his economy rate was better than Kuldeep Yadav, who went wicketless in IPL 2025 for the first time.

With the bat, Axar stood up to apply finishing touches by hitting 34 not out off 20 balls, as DC completed the chase of 160 in 17.5 overs. All of this meant Axar was clearly the better skipper on display than his LSG counterpart Rishabh Pant, who was out for a duck after coming 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 capitalised. 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 unbeaten 56-run stand with KL Rahul, who hit 57 not out, his third fifty of the season. Facing LSG for the first time since his not so pleasant exit from the franchise, Rahul also reached the landmark of 5000 runs in the IPL, becoming the quickest batter to get there (in 130 innings), and even finished off 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 praised pacer Mukesh Kumar for his impactful spell of 4-33 in the middle overs, with his yorker outclassing Mitchell Marsh being the standout delivery. "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."

Ambati Rayudu, the former India batter, analysed 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

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