'Holding Axar for back-end was...': Warner explains DC's bizarre batting-order tactic that enraged fans after SRH loss

The Delhi Capitals endured their sixth loss of the season on Saturday night, as Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a narrow 9-run win.

The Delhi Capitals faced a narrow loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, as they remained at the bottom of the table with two wins in eight games. The side, however, did raise some eyebrows with its tactics during the SRH game in Delhi that left the fans baffled on social media platforms. Chasing a 198-run target, the DC were a more dominant team in the run-chase; they had raced to 115/3 in the 12th over. Following the wicket of Manish Pandey, the Capitals first sent Priyam Garg, and then an out-of-form Sarfaraz Khan to bat.

David Warner; Axar Patel(IPL)

While Priyam could only score 12 off 9 deliveries, Sarfaraz had a rather forgettable outing, scoring 9 off 10 balls. Axar Patel, who has been in great form with the bat, arrived at the crease with the side requiring 58 more runs to win in just 26 balls. Despite striking at 207.14 in the fourteen deliveries he faced, Axar couldn't guide DC home, thus leaving the Capitals fans enraged over the tactics deployed by the team management.

The side's captain David Warner – who endured a rare failure in the game (0 off 2 balls) – was asked about Axar's batting position following the game and the DC skipper admitted it was a tough call.

“He's in good touch but for us, we got off to a good start. With him in the back end, we knew it was going to be vital with spinners spinning into left handers. We only had myself and Axar (among left-handed batters). Holding Axar for the back-end, it can be difficult, but there are challenges that present us when we are in that moment. Maybe we could think about sending him a bit earlier,” Warner said.

Axar has scored 211 runs in 8 matches while batting at the lower-middle order for Capitals; with a decent strike rate of 142.57, the left-handed Axar has largely been DC's savior amid their struggles in the batting order.