IPL 2023: 'Don't know what he is thinking as a batter' - Axar Patel opens up David Warner's struggles for DC

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Delhi Capitals (DC) vice-captain Axar Patel feels skipper David Warner is trying his best to lead from the front, but things need to be falling in place for the veteran Australian opener. DC slumped to its fourth consecutive loss in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after being outplayed by former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday night. It is languishing at the bottom of the table without any points.

DC scored 172 on its home pitch, chased down by the five-time IPL champions on the last ball, with skipper Rohit Sharma playing a captain's knock of 65. Even though Warner has been among the runs, scoring 209 in four innings, Axar feels the Australian cannot close out the games for the side.

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"If you talk about the last two-three games, he is trying, but it's just not happening for him. I don't know what he was thinking as a batter then," he said. Axar also indicated that the Australian stalwart needed clarification about when to drop anchor and attack the bowling. Warner has been criticised for his inordinately slow batting in PowerPlays (PP), with the 36-year-old opener scoring his half-century at a strike rate of just 108.51 in Tuesday's game. Though the Australian has scored three half-tons in four games, it has been painfully slow and one of the reasons for the Delhi franchise's poor run this season.

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Warner scored a 55-ball 65 at a strike rate of 118 against former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR), while against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the stalwart hit a 48-ball 56 at a strike rate of 116. "When Prithvi [Shaw] is batting with him, he [Warner] tries to play the anchor role. [And], when wickets are falling from one end, it's not good [for Warner] to try and keep attacking from the other end as well," explained Axar.

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"Even when he [Warner] is trying, it's not coming off. Everyone spoke to him -- [head coach] Ricky [Ponting], [Shane] Watson, Dada [Sourav Ganguly]. The conversation about his strike rate also came up. They looked at his videos, and he's working on it," added Axar. Axar feels all is still possible for DC, and they need to keep a positive frame of mind to give themselves a chance to qualify for the playoffs.

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"After four losses, there are two ways to think -- one is you sit back thinking that you've lost four games, the run-rate is poor, and the qualification is at stake, there is nothing good that's going to come out of it. On the other hand, if you have a positive attitude and think about what you will do in the next match, you can bring the performance you want. It's important to remain positive, and that's what we keep talking about," Axar described.

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Axar, who made 54 off 25 balls, was also critical about his batting, saying he could have been more careful with his strokeplay. Axar picked up a Jason Behrendorff delivery with his wrists, holing straight to Arshad Khan at deep square. "I believe it's my fault too. I could have played those last 10 balls in a different way, and that would've added more runs to our account rather than hitting as a compulsion in the last over. It would have been a different game altogether had the score been somewhere between 175-180," he felt.

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On his improved batting technique, Axar said, "If you are playing for India across the three formats, then that boosts your confidence. Senior players like Virat [Kohli] and Rohit [Sharma], Hardik told me a few things about getting the mindset right. As an all-rounder, when you score 20-30 runs, you think you can go for the big shots. I changed that thinking to control the game and finish it. These were the mindset changes I worked on. When I scored runs from the Sri Lanka series, I gained confidence, which got carried forward."

(With inputs from PTI)