New Delhi, April 14, 2025 – Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Axar Patel copped a Rs 12 lakh fine from the BCCI Sunday for a slow over-rate during a gut-wrenching 12-run loss to Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2025’s Match 29 at Arun Jaitley Stadium. The penalty, DC’s first breach under Article 2.22 of the IPL Code of Conduct, stung harder after their unbeaten four-game streak snapped despite Karun Nair’s blazing 89 off 40 balls (Hindustan Times).
Chasing MI’s 205/5—fueled by Tilak Varma’s 59 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 40—DC cruised at 119/1 before collapsing to 193 in 19 overs. A hat-trick of run-outs in the penultimate over sealed their fate, with Karn Sharma’s 3-fer turning the tide (The Indian Express). “We had it—soft dismissals killed us,” Axar said post-match, per Times of India. The over-rate slip—taking over 15 extra minutes for MI’s innings—drew the fine, joining Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and Rajat Patidar in the penalty box (NDTV).
Axar’s no stranger to pressure—captaining DC for the first time this season after Rishabh Pant’s exit, the 31-year-old all-rounder’s led Gujarat domestically (The Hindu). But his wicketless run—zero in five games—and 67 runs at a 120 strike rate aren’t helping (ESPNcricinfo). “Kuldeep’s bowling unreal—we move on,” he told The Economic Times, shrugging off the batting flop. DC’s still second on the points table, but the net run rate took a hit (India Today).
Posts on X buzz—“Axar’s gotta step up!”—while fans rue Nair’s lone fight (post:1). Slow over-rates plagued 2024 too—Pant faced a ban (Cricbuzz). With DC facing Rajasthan Royals Wednesday, can Axar rally, or will this dent their title shot?
