Axar Patel’s batting woes deepened once again as Delhi Capitals hit a new low in their IPL 2026 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. The Delhi skipper’s struggles with the bat have pushed his captaincy numbers to the bottom end of IPL history, while KKR’s spinners ensured the hosts were never able to build momentum at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Key takeaways
- Axar Patel’s batting average as a captain in IPL 2026 is 6.28, making it the second-lowest such figure in IPL history among batters with at least seven innings.
- In 11 matches this season, Axar has scored 44 runs and remains behind only Shane Warne’s 2.00 average from IPL 2010 in the “captain with 7+ innings” bracket.
- Axar also has the lowest strike rate in IPL 2026 among batters who have faced 50 or more balls, sitting at 74.57.
- KKR’s spin unit of Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy and Varun Chakaravarthy dominated the middle phase, restricting Delhi’s scoring and forcing high-risk shots.
- Pathum Nissanka made 50 and KL Rahul contributed 23, but Delhi’s middle order repeatedly collapsed under pressure.
- Ashutosh Sharma’s late push—39 off 28 balls—helped Delhi avoid an even more severe total, after four wickets fell during KKR’s spin control.
Axar’s captaincy batting numbers hit historic depths
Axar Patel’s outing added to a difficult stretch for Delhi in IPL 2026, with his batting returning another underwhelming return. As captain, he has now registered one of the worst batting averages in the tournament’s long history for leaders who have had at least seven innings.
This season, Axar has mustered only 44 runs across 11 matches, producing an average of 6.28. That mark places him just behind Shane Warne, whose average of 2.00 came in IPL 2010. The comparison also highlights how steep the fall has been for Axar, ahead of Eoin Morgan’s 11.08 in 2021 and Harbhajan Singh’s 12.00 from 2012, with R Ashwin’s 12.75 in 2018 sitting above the current concern level.
His struggles are not limited to average either. Axar currently carries the lowest strike rate in IPL 2026 among batters who have faced a minimum of 50 deliveries. With a strike rate of 74.57, the numbers underline how hard it has been for him to accelerate in an era where more aggressive scoring has been a consistent theme.
KKR’s spin attack sinks Delhi at Arun Jaitley Stadium
The difficult batting form for Delhi came to the surface again in a match where KKR’s spin attack took full control. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the hosts found it hard to get boundaries flowing, particularly after the early phase, as the visitors tightened the screws through the middle overs.
Pathum Nissanka provided the main resistance with a composed half-century, while KL Rahul managed 23 at the top. However, once Delhi’s innings moved deeper into the batting card, the middle order failed to withstand the pressure and wickets arrived at critical moments.
KKR’s trio of Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy and Varun Chakaravarthy were central to the collapse in momentum. Their spell-by-spell control dried up the scoring rate and forced Delhi batters into riskier decisions. Narine struck soon after returning, dismissing Sameer Rizvi. Roy then delivered the decisive impact by removing Nissanka immediately after his fifty, and he followed that by trapping Tristan Stubbs in the same over—turning the middle phase into a decisive turning point.
By the time the spin spell had done its damage, Delhi had lost four wickets during the middle overs as KKR maintained relentless pressure. With the match already slipping away, Ashutosh Sharma offered a late counterattack, striking 39 off 28 balls. Even so, without that late burst, Delhi may not have been able to even reach the 100-run mark.
With Axar’s batting form now becoming one of the standout problems for Delhi Capitals, attention will inevitably shift to whether the captain can find a way to improve his output as the IPL 2026 challenge grows tougher.
