Axar Patel. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

The David Warner-led Delhi Capitals had a horrid time in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The team failed to make it to the knockout stages of the competition and had a season to forget as they managed to win only five games and lost nine to finish at the ninth spot in the table with 10 points in 14 games.

One of the few positives for Delhi was the performance of Indian all-rounder Axar Patel. The 29-year-old was sensational with both the bat and the ball throughout the competition and amassed 283 runs and took 11 wickets as well. Despite coming to bat pretty low in the batting order, Axar was one of the highest run-getters for Delhi.

Seeing his fabulous performances, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra came forward and lambasted Delhi Capitals’ management for underutilising the all-rounder. He named some players who were not utilised to their potential in the IPL 2023, and Axar’s name was at the top of the list. Furthermore, Chopra also pondered over the performances that Axar might have put in if he was under the leadership of Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni.

“The first player who comes to my mind, although he still performed well, his name used to be there in the most valuable players’ list. Imagine if this player had been in MS Dhoni’s team, he might have been this tournament’s best player, his name is Axar Patel. He was not getting to bat,” Aakash Chopra said on the ‘AakashVani’ show on JioCinema

“You wonder who was taking the decisions. You have David Warner as the captain of your team, and outside you had Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Ajit Agarkar and Pravin Amre. You couldn’t figure out how to get the best out of this player despite having such a large think-tank,” he added.