Axar Patel has been a let down for Delhi Capitals so far in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). The all-rounder, who was one of India cricket team’s most reliable stars in the white-ball formats in the previous year, has simply failed to fare well, with both bat and ball for DC. The team has been burdened by Axar’s inconsistency, and after 10 games, it looks like he is more of a liability for the team than an asset and this was proved once again in the DC vs CSK game on Tuesday.
Axar Patel’s poor form a worrying sign for DC
In IPL 2026, Axar has managed to score just 33 runs at an average of 6.60 and a strike rate of 97.05 from 10 matches so far. With the ball, he has taken 8 wickets at an average of 29.87 and an economy rate of 8.53. Coming out to bat in the middle-order, Patel has managed to register scores of 0, 2, 1, 26, 2, 0, and 2 in the seven innings that he has gotten opportunities. Patel’s best figures with the ball came in the game against RCB where he finished with 2/18 to his name.
In the game against CSK on Tuesday, Axar came out to bat at number 5 but managed to score just 2 runs off 6 balls. Him coming out to bat ahead of Sameer Rizvi and Ashutosh Sharma was a bad move after all, as both the batters fared better than the DC skipper. Instead of rescuing DC from a collapse in the middle-overs, Patel put the team into further trouble. With the ball, he managed to register good figures with 1/25 from his four overs.
He has largely been expensive in the remainder of the games. Overall, Axar’s inability to fare well with either the bat or the ball has turned out to be a burden for DC, who have only won 4 matches so far in IPL 2026 (before the CSK match) and find themselves at a position where they need to win all their remaining matches to fancy a chance of making it to the playoffs.
| Mat | Runs | HS | Ave (Bat) | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 172 | 1947 | 66 | 21.16 | 136 |
Axar has been one of India’s most trusted all-rounders in the white-ball formats of the game over the last year. From being handed the responsibility of doing the job in the middle-overs to being one of the go-to bowlers, the all-rounder has been an MVP for India. However, his fine form hasn’t translated so far when it comes to IPL 2026. His best season in T20Is came between 2023 and 2025 where he picked up 510 runs 48 wickets from 48 matches. In 2026, however, Axar was sub-par with the bat, managing to get just 21 runs from 9 matches but was more effective with the ball, having bagged 15 wickets.
Talking about his IPL career, his best season with the bat came in 2023 when he amassed 283 runs while his best season with the ball was way back in 2014 where he managed to get 17 wickets. While he has been consistent in terms of being a wicket-taker since his debut in the IPL, his stocks have hit a low in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
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