“Ek number ke banrakas aadmi hain,” Ricky Ponting faces the wrath of fans for not promoting Axar Patel up the order

After Manish Pandey departed, fans expected Axar Patel to walk out in the middle and have a go at the SRH bowlers. But instead, Priyam Garg walked out to bat.

“Ek number ke banrakas aadmi hain,” Ricky Ponting faces the wrath of fans for not promoting Axar Patel up the order

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting has been the centre of criticism for his poor tactics in IPL 2023 so far. Ponting is being criticized for his questionable decisions, especially for the changes he has been making in the DC batting order and for not promoting Axar Patel. Now, as Delhi Capitals suffered a nine runs defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) despite being in a winning position at one point, fans came hard at the DC head coach.

Most of the fans looked disappointed with DC team management’s decision to hold Axar Patel despite the all-rounder amassing runs for his team consistently. Notably, while chasing 198, DC were 112/1 in 11.1 overs with Phil Salt (59 off 35) and Mitchell Marsh (63 off 39) going strong in the middle. Even though DC lost Salt and Manish Pandey in quick succession, they stood a chance to win the game. 

After Manish Pandey departed, fans expected Axar Patel to walk out in the middle and have a go at the SRH bowlers. But instead, Priyam Garg walked out to bat. Patel did not walk out even after Marsh lost his wicket. Sarfaraz Khan was sent in to partner Garg. Patel eventually walked out to bat when DC lost their fifth wicket (Priyam Garg). 

The all-rounder did try his best, scoring an unbeaten 29 off just 14 balls but could not win the game for his team. Meanwhile, fans on Twitter started criticizing Ponting for his strange decisions in IPL 2023.

Check out the reactions: 

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David Warner explains the decision

david warner axar patel

As DC lost the game, captain David Warner was asked about this decision to hold back Axar Patel at the post-match presentation. Answering the same, Warner said that it is difficult to hold Axar but DC have tried to reserve him for the middle overs. The DC captain also said that they will look to send him earlier after what happened against SRH.

“Yes, he is in good touch and good form but it’s about him at the backend. We got a few good starts and we know he would be vital with spinners spinning into the left-handers. But there is the challenge when we are in the moment, so we can think about sending him up the order,” said Warner.

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