We’ve spoken to him, he’s working on it: Axar on Warner’s poor strike-rate

Axar Patel; (right) DC skipper David Warner walks back after being dismissed by MI on Tuesday. Pics/AFP

Delhi Capitals vice-captain Axar Patel feels skipper David Warner is trying his best to lead from the front, but things are not falling in place for the veteran Australian opener.

DC slumped to their fourth consecutive loss in the ongoing IPL after being outplayed by Mumbai Indians by six wickets here on Tuesday night. They are languishing at the bottom of the table without any points.

Delhi Capitals scored 172 on the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, which was chased down by the five-time IPL champions on the last ball, with skipper Rohit Sharma playing a captain's knock of 65.

Though Warner has been among the runs, scoring 209 in four innings, Axar feels the Australian is not able to close out the games for the side. "If you talk about the last two-three games, he is trying, but it's just not happening for him. I don't know what he is thinking as a batter at that time."

Also Read: DC's Ponting: Need to do some soul-searching

Axar also indicated that the Australian stalwart was getting confused over when to drop anchor and when to attack the bowling. Warner has been criticised for his inordinately slow batting in Powerplays, with the 36-year-old opener scoring his half-century at a strike rate of just 108.51 in Tuesday's game. Though the Australian has scored three half-tons in four games, they have been painfully slow, and one of the reasons for the Delhi franchise's poor run this season.

Warner scored a 55-ball 65 at a strike rate of 118 against Rajasthan Royals, while against Lucknow Super Giants, the stalwart hit a 48-ball 56 at a strike rate of 116. "Everyone spoke to him - [head coach] Ricky [Ponting], [Shane] Watson, Dada [Sourav Ganguly]. The conversation about his strike rate also came up. They looked at his videos and he's working on it," said Axar.

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