‘He’s not taking…’: DC coach gives his opinion on Axar Patel’s captaincy following brilliant start to IPL 2025

DC coach showers praise on Axar's captaincy

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Axar Patel’s leadership style puts the players at ease instantly and has also played a massive role in the Delhi-based franchise’s blazing start to this IPL season, reckons the team’s assistant coach Matthew Mott.

The Capitals have won three games on the bounce and currently sits on the pole position in the points table.

“He’s just got a great balance on cricket and life. He’ll just summarize the group and make sure the players are included. They’ve got a smile on their face. He doesn’t come across as being the only voice (in the team),” Mott said in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

Mott said Axar uses the experience of other senior players in the squad like KL Rahul and Faf Du Plessis, a former Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper, to good effect.

“He’s not taking it all on himself. He leverages a lot of the other senior players in the group. We mentioned KL, Faf as well. He’s got a lot of experience to draw on, particularly Faf. We had a productive meeting around that,” Mott said.

“He’s played enough cricket to know that it can be a pretty fickle game at times. You’re well aware that when you’re winning, it’s all rosy. I like to think that he’s got that character where if we do have a bad day, he’ll be just as positive,” Mott added.

However, the former white-ball coach of England hoped Axar will utilise himself a tad more as a bowler.

“We were probably a little surprised that he didn’t bowl more. He felt like the other bowlers were doing well. Someone like Vipraj (Nigam) has come in and been a sensation for us,” Mott said.

“He probably took some overs where Axel might have bowled. Given his experience and time, I felt he had control of the game. I think in the matches coming forward, you’ll see him bowl a lot more,” Mott added.