Kamal Ghorui
Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel had few answers after his team suffered two heavy defeats in less than 48 hours in IPL 2026.After failing to defend 264 against Punjab Kings on Saturday, Delhi were bowled out for just 75 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday.Delhi were reduced to 9 for 6 inside the Powerplay as Bhuvneshwar Kumar got movement with the new ball and Josh Hazlewood used the short-ball plan well.It became the team’s lowest score of the season and RCB completed a nine-wicket win comfortably.“Even I don’t know what happened. That’s why they say you have to be on your toes in cricket. We have to move on from this match,” Axar said at the post-match presentation.He also looked back at key moments from recent matches, including the missed single against Gujarat Titans and dropped catches by Karun Nair against Punjab Kings.“From today’s point of view, you can say it did effect, but you can look back, if the catches were taken (Nair) or had we taken the single against GT, then momentum would have been with us. The game is such that there is no room for ifs and buts. You have to be positive, you had a bad day and take the positives from the last 5-6 games,” Axar added.However, the Delhi skipper did not agree that there was too much swing on offer, even after Bhuvneshwar’s inswinger bowled debutant Sahil Parakh.“I wasn’t surprised, they are world class bowlers, they swing it every ground, but if our openers or top order had played them out then the result might have been different.”Hazlewood, who removed KL Rahul and Nitish Rana with short balls, said he was unsure what to expect from the pitch after more than 500 runs were scored in the previous match at the same venue.“Probably turning up here after 500-plus runs in the last game, was not sure what was going to happen,” Hazlewood said, adding that he followed Bhuvneshwar’s lead.“Was just following his (Bhuvneshwar) lead. There was a bit there in the first six overs – enough there to work with, and it was skidding on quickly from a short of a length. Once the ball got soft, it got more even,” Hazlewood said.He also explained how he planned the dismissal of Rana.“In general, you wanted the batter to hit it down the wicket and in the V. The short ball was nice as well, just about the accuracy. When that ball was nice and hard, it was tough to bat. Would have been nice to bowl four and get off the field,” said Hazlewood.RCB captain Rajat Patidar also admitted he was surprised by how the pitch behaved.“Even I am surprised the way wicket played,” he said.“All credit goes to the bowlers, Bhuvi and Hazlewood. They hit the right areas. The swing was normal but the good thing was we got early wickets and that kept us in the driving seat. The way Suyash Sharma bowled, stump to stump, it was really good to see,” he concluded.
