Axar Patel gives injury update; explains why he walked away in middle of DC vs KKR clash

Delhi Capitals’ captain Axar Patel was forced to leave the field in the middle of the match after sustaining an injury to a finger on his left hand, during the IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday (April 29). After the match, Axar gave an update about his injury and explained how serious it was.

How did Axar get injured?

The unfortunate incident took place during the fourth ball of the 18th over, which was delivered by Vipraj Nigam. When Axar who was positioned in the mid-wicket region, made a diving effort to stop a fiercely struck shot from KKR’s Rovman Powell. While halting the ball, he injured his fingers and immediately collapsed to the ground. The Delhi Capitals’ physiotherapist rushed to Axar’s side and after a brief examination, the physio and Axar were seen walking off the field together, raising concerns about the severity of the injury.

Axar Patel on injury

Axar Patel gave insights about the extent of the injury after the match. “My skin got peeled off as I dived on the practice wickets to stop the ball,” Axar said during the post-match press conference. “But the good thing is that there are three to four days of break and hopefully I will be able to recover,” he added

Speaking about the match Axar said, “I think how the wicket was and how we bowled in the powerplay, we gave away 15-20 runs. We also softly lost a few wickets.”

“The positive was how we restricted them after the powerplay, coming to the batting, even though few batters failed, some of us contributed and took it so close. When Vipraj was batting there was hope, if Ashutosh was there then they could have repeated the first game,” he reflected.

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders match

Coming to bat first after losing the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders posted a total of 204/9 after 20 overs. KKR openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26 off 16 balls) and Sunil Narine (27 off 14 balls) laid the foundation with their explosive batting. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane (26 off 14 balls) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 off 32 balls) also added crucial runs. Rinku Singh scored 36 off 25 deliveries to help the team get an above-par total.

During the chase, Delhi Capitals managed to reach 190/9 in 20 overs and lost the game by 14 runs. Faf du Plessis played a brilliant knock of 62 off 45 balls. Axar Patel (43 off 23 balls) and Vipraj Nigam (38 off 19 balls) added significant runs. However, KKR bowlers outsmarted them as the wickets kept falling and the momentum shifted on the guests’ side.