Cheteshwar Pujara’s Advice For Axar Patel: Former Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has given some advice to Delhi Capitals captain Akshar Patel before IPL 2026. He praised Akshar’s calm nature on the field, but also warned that being too relaxed could cost the team dearly, especially considering last season’s performance.

Pujara gave tips

Speaking to Star Sports, Cheteshwar Pujara stressed the importance of maintaining momentum throughout the tournament. He said, ‘Akshar Patel is of a very calm nature, he does not take much pressure. His personality is really good, especially for a tournament like IPL where there is a lot of pressure. He gives full support to his players, but he has to take care that they do not relax more than necessary. They should not be too casual, nor should they lose their rhythm. Last year DC had momentum, but they lost it. They will have to take special care of this this season.

Last year’s performance

Under the captaincy of Akshar Patel, the performance of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025 was mixed. He won his first 4 matches, but later his form deteriorated and he could not qualify for the playoffs. With 7 wins in 14 matches, they remained at 5th position on the points table. This season was very difficult for Akshar personally, he took only 5 wickets in 12 matches.

Kaif has hope from Akshar

Despite this, former Indian batsman and now commentator Mohammad Kaif believes that Akshar can make a strong comeback this season. He said, ‘Akshar Patel can bowl with the new ball in the powerplay, but last year the problem was that he did not get many wickets because he did not have many runs to save. This time too he will bowl with the new ball only; Apart from this, Kuldeep and Vipraj Nigam are also in the team, so I am not worried about this. Last season may not have been that good, but this year he will definitely make a strong comeback.

When is the first match?

Delhi Capitals will play their first match against Lucknow Super Giants on April 1 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. After the brilliant performance in the T20 World Cup 2026, there will be pressure on team captain Akshar Patel to perform better than last year.

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