Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel was seen consoling a distraught David Miller after their 1-run defeat in the IPL 2026 game against the Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 8, Wednesday.
Miller, whose tactic of denying a single in the penultimate delivery of the innings came into question, was seemingly disappointed as he wore a sad expression after the Capitals missed out on registering their highest successful run-chase. However, Axar displayed a heartwarming gesture towards his teammate.
How David Miller got the Delhi Capitals almost over the line
Miller had injured his finger midway through his innings and returned to play almost a match-winning knock but a bad misjudgement meant the Capitals could not get over the line. With 36 required off the last two overs to nail 211, the left-handed batter hammered 23 runs off Mohammed Siraj to bring the target down to 13 off the final six balls. At one stage, the home side required eight off the final three balls and the South African hard-hitter clobbered a maximum out of the ground off Prasidh Krishna's bowling, reducing the equation to only two off two balls. The southpaw denied the single in the second-last ball, retaining the confidence to get their side over the line. However, Prasidh Krishna bowled a wily slower bouncer and Miller failed to connect. Miller ran but Jos Buttler ran Kuldeep Yadav out in the striker's end. Although the Capitals reviewed for a wide, replays showed it was a legal ball, handing the Titans a one-run win.
Here's the video of Axar Patel consoling Miller:
"We could have played smarter" - Axar Patel
At the post-game presentation, Capitals skipper Axar stated that losing wickets at crucial junctures hurt them as they should have played it smarter. He stated, as quoted by Cricbuzz:
"Yeah, obviously the way we are playing, I think both teams played a very good, I think, a very good cricket. And yeah, I think, this type of close game, you can, you know, point out anything. So I think, yes, we played very good cricket. As I said earlier, in a close chase, in a close game, you can point out a lot of things. But I think in the chase, I think we could have played smarter. The crucial time at which the wickets fell, I think if that hadn't happened, we could have finished the chase earlier."
Rashid Khan earned the Player of the Match award for his figures of 4-0-17-3.