Axar Patel admitted that both Delhi Capitals’ batting and bowling departments fell short as they suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2026 on Friday. The loss has left DC’s chances of reaching the playoffs extremely slim, and the captain suggested the group has already started looking ahead to next season as he reflected on what went wrong.
Delhi posted 142/8 in their home fixture, but KKR got the chase done comfortably in 14.2 overs. Finn Allen anchored the run chase with an unbeaten century, finishing on 100* and giving Kolkata a steady platform throughout. Cameron Green also stayed unbeaten on 33*, ensuring that the target was never under serious pressure once the partnership got going.
With the result, Delhi Capitals remain eighth in the standings, having collected eight points from 11 matches. Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, climbed to seventh place after moving to nine points from 10 games, extending their momentum with their fourth consecutive victory.
Speaking after the match, Axar said the side would analyse the areas that cost them and then turn their focus toward the longer picture. “For now, we’ll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there’s still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we’ll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take,” he said.
He also pointed to the need to evaluate options within the squad. “Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make,” Axar added.
Axar felt the total of 142 was below par and stressed that the spinners were unable to execute their plans cleanly during the defensive phase. “I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors,” he said.
On the swing moments, the captain highlighted the impact of losing wickets in quick succession. “At the same time, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that’s where the momentum slipped away from us. That’s probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK… we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling,” Axar remarked.
Axar further emphasised that the team must learn to deal with pressure when wickets fall in clusters. “See, you can’t solve it in a complicated way. So, I think it’s more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that’s what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two,” he concluded.
