New Delhi, Mar 23: Over the past year, Axar Patel’s stocks within Indian cricket has significantly increased. The all-rounder’s significant contributions with both bat and ball were instrumental in India’s victories in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

If this wasn’t enough, Axar was made the vice-captain in India’s 4-1 T20I series win over England earlier this year. Shortly after winning his second ICC title with the Indian team in Dubai, Axar was made the captain of the Delhi Capitals – one of the three original franchises to have not won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title yet.

Having witnessed Axar Patel’s growth firsthand as Gujarat’s captain, Priyank Panchal believes he’s well-suited to lead DC effectively in IPL 2025. “I’ll go back to his early days – when he started playing for Gujarat, he always was a good all-rounder. He always used to do his bowling really well. He was naturally talented, but he needed to do the hard work to carry that talent forward to big heights – especially in his batting.

“He was the captain of the Gujarat team at the under-19 level. When Gujarat became the champions of 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he was the captain for a few matches. So, he knows how to do this captaincy thing. Since he has been vice-captain of Delhi Capitals for quite some time, this is just a natural progression for him.

“As someone who has seen him from his early days, I feel that Axar will easily fit into the role of a captain because he doesn’t panic much, and is very calm and composed. I would say that it’s a great opportunity for him if Delhi Capitals wins the IPL from here, as he is someone who one cannot even underestimate him as a captain and an all-rounder,” said Panchal in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Last year’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore marked Axar’s only previous appearance as DC’s captain in the IPL, as his predecessor Rishabh Pant was absent due to a one-match ban for a slow over-rate offence.

Axar also led his domestic team Gujarat during the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where they missed out on a spot in the knockouts as Baroda and Saurashtra had a higher net run rate.

Subsequently, with him at the helm, Gujarat made it to the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals before suffering a defeat against Haryana. In Axar, Panchal vividly recognises aspects reminiscent of MS Dhoni’s leadership.

“The best thing about him is that he doesn’t have a junior or senior thing in his mind when in the team. He is someone who sees everyone equally, and gets along well with juniors because of his fun-loving nature. Plus, he is someone who doesn’t get so bogged down when chips are down or when a youngster is not able to perform.

“He is the one who would be the first one to go and tell a youngster having a bad game that it’s okay, it can happen to anyone and just focus on the next game. With him being experienced now, he has a natural tendency to do all those things.

“So, the best thing about leadership is, as we have seen in MS Dhoni sir, that he does simple things but does it repeatedly. He does those simple things so nicely. So, not that I am comparing Axar with MS Dhoni sir, but I am just saying that the calmness and the way he does his things simply makes him an apt fit for the leadership role.

“In a captain’s role, you have many options to choose from. But he is someone who will use his options in the best way possible, as well as by focusing on making that simple thing so impactful,” he elaborated.

While Axar’s DC team-mates like Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, Tristan Stubbs and Mohit Sharma pointed out how his fun-loving nature will make the DC environment easy-going, Panchal stated about the all-rounder’s astute tactical nature.

“From what I observed, in terms of tactical inputs, he is someone who can judge batters and bowlers very well. He is someone who is always in the game, and his natural instinct comes out very well. Like, he knows where a particular batter will play and where he will try to get runs. So, he strategically tries to change the field placement.

“After that, even in batting, if he knows that I don’t want to attack the off-spinner and I want to hit him over the cover, he is someone who in any situation, will bat himself accordingly. If he gets out, it’s okay, because it’s a high-risk game, especially T20. So, he is someone who adapts his batting by himself as per the situation, as well as around others," he added.

Axar’s tactical skills, particularly his bowler rotation strategies—including when to introduce himself in the bowling attack— as well as his communication with players within the Delhi Capitals set-up, will be critically examined during the high-pressure environment of a world-class tournament like the IPL.

Panchal signed off on an optimistic note by saying the new DC support staff will help make Axar’s life easy as the captain. “Mostly, he has to manage local players as well as have easy communication with the overseas players. Apart from the four overseas players, all of them will be Indian players.”

“So, Axar has played so many games in the Indian domestic circuit and knows how to get the best out of the home players. The game awareness of players like Mitchell Starc and Faf du Plessis is so high that they don’t need to say much most of the time.

“The best thing about franchise cricket is that you just have to focus on the game as a captain, and getting the best out of your eleven players, as the impact player situation will be mostly handled by the coach. Plus, you have so much of data available. So, the captaincy job will be very easy for him," he said.

(IANS)

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