Allrounder Axar Patel is set to lead Delhi Capitals in their crucial match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru after BCCI bans Rishabh Pant for a match. Delhi Capitals and Royal challengers Bengaluru will lock horns to play the 62nd match of the IPL 2024 on May 12 in M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Ahead of the most crucial clash, Delhi Capitals were hit with a massive blow as their skipper Rishabh Pant has been handed a match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate against RR on May 7.
As it was their third such offence, the team was slapped with a whooping fine amount along with a suspension. Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has handed an INR 30 Lakh fine and a match suspension while the rest of the DC players – including the impact substitute – have been fined INR 12 Lakh or 50% of their match fee, whichever is lesser.
Following his unavailability, the cricket fans expected the vice-captain to lead the team, as expected Ricky Ponting confirms that Axar Patel will lead the team on Sunday.
“He (Axar) has been Vice-Captain at this franchise for the last couple of seasons. A very experienced IPL player, an experienced international player, a sensible guy, understands the game really well. He’s excited about it. We started talking about it a couple of days ago when there was a possibility that Rishabh might be banned,” Ponting said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“He’s got his head around it. We’ve done our bowlers’ meetings today. He’ll catch up with all the guys tonight, go through all the plans and make sure that he’s ready to lead the team well tomorrow,” he added.
Delhi Capitals are placed fifth in the IPL 2024 points table with 12 points in 12 matches, while the hosts are on a four-match winning streak.
When asked if Sunday’s game will be a tough or equal fight, the DC head coach said, “They’re all tough games in the IPL. If you wind the clock back two weeks, RCB weren’t playing anywhere near their best. And, now, they probably played as well as anybody in the tournament.”
He further added, “I’ll put a case forward as well to say that what we’ve done as a team in the last seven games has been as impressive as anyone in the tournament. We’ve won five of our last seven, and we’ve made some huge scores along the way. There are no excuses from us tomorrow, regardless of Pant not being in the lineup. If we turn up and play our best game, then I know that the Delhi Capitals will be very hard to beat tomorrow.”
While being asked about the team combination in Pant’s absence, Ponting also gave an update on David Warner’s fitness.
He said, “David Warner missed the last game, he got that nasty knock on his hand about a month ago now and hasn’t played a game since. He trained really strongly yesterday, he’ll be out hitting balls in the middle now, so he’ll be doing some more batting today. Hopefully, he’s available for selection for tomorrow”.
