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Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has slammed Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel for throwing his teammates under the bus amid the team’s struggles in IPL 2026.
With 5 wins in 12 matches, Delhi are barely alive in the race to the playoffs in this tournament. The team had almost been eliminated from the competition until a stunning victory over the Punjab Kings in Dharamsala kept their hopes alive.
Now, even if Delhi win both their remaining matches, they will need not just help from other results, but also a significant jump in their net run rate.
Axar Patel singles out Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep was actually dropped for DC’s game against Punjab Kings on Monday. That was one of the five changes that the Capitals made for that match in order to break their two-match losing streak.
This specific instance, though, came after DC’s loss to Chennai Super Kings on May 5. In that match, a stunning 87* from Sanju Samson had made very light work of DC’s target of 156.
After the match, Axar Patel said that he “definitely missed” Kuldeep Yadav. Against CSK, Axar took 1 wicket and conceded just 25 runs in his four overs, whereas Kuldeep Yadav bowled three wicketless overs for 34 runs, with Samson being particularly harsh on him.
“But I feel in bowling, I missed my partner Kuldeep,” Axar had said after the match.
“A mature captain never publicly names his players” – Mohammad Kaif
Kaif slammed Axar Patel for not being mature about Kuldeep Yadav’s poor form in IPL 2026. He said that the DC skipper shouldn’t have named his teammate publicly and that experienced captains should avoid naming individuals.
“A mature captain never publicly takes the name of one of his players or lets his player down. He does not openly blame him. I can understand that Kuldeep has gone through a tough phase this season. He has not bowled that well and has not picked up many wickets. But ever since he joined Delhi, he has been a proven bowler,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Kaif went on to stress that even if some players were underperforming, it does not mean that a captain should name and inadvertently shame those players.
“Forget just the IPL, even if you talk about India in ODIs or T20Is over the years, he has consistently performed. Yes, this season has been a bit quiet for him, and his bowling has not been at its best. But you should never take a player’s name publicly. Instead, you should simply say that things did not go well as a team,” he added.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav’s poor form in IPL 2026
Even though all the players of the Delhi Capitals have been struggling in IPL 2026, Axar’s own bowling form has been somewhat respectable.
Axar Patel’s form with the bat has been terrible, but he has managed to be his team’s highest wicket-taker in IPL 2026 so far. Axar’s 10 wickets in 12 matches have come at an average of 29 and an economy of around 8.
Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, has fared much worse. He only has 7 wickets in 11 matches at an average of over 50 and an economy rate of 10.67 runs per over.
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