Delhi Capitals' Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign suffered a blow as the David Warner-led side failed to chase down 168 against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday. After the bowlers did a fine job to restrict CSK to 167/8, the batters failed to score fluently as DC kept losing wickets on regular intervals. One of the biggest talking points from the match was the batting position of all-rounder Axar Patel, who came out to bat after DC had lost half of their batters.
Axar played a cameo of 21 off just 12 balls, before holing one out due to the scoreboard pressure.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra questioned DC's usage of Axar, who has been in fine form with the bat.
"The under-utilisation of Axar Patel has been the most unsettling aspect of DC's campaign this season. Yes...the absence of Rishabh has hurt their chances but not getting the best out of players in top-form is baffling. Will be surprised if there isn't a very different looking think-tank next season," Chopra wrote in a tweet.
Axar, however, hailed Dhoni for managing his resources, and did not make 'basic mistakes'.
"Ever wondered why it's never the case with CSK? No batter is asked to bat out of position. Bowlers have well defined roles. You won't see MSD making basic errors...ever. Leaving his genius captaincy aside, sometimes, it's a lot about keeping things simple. And he does that," he added in another tweet.
CSK consolidated their second position as they now have 15 points in 12 matches. Meanwhile, DC remained at the bottom of the table with eight points.