April 14, 2025: Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Axar Patel has been fined ₹12 lakh for maintaining a slow over rate during their 12-run loss to Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 13 in the IPL 2025.
According to the IPL Code of Conduct (Article 2.22), which relates to minimum over-rate offences, this was Delhi’s first over-rate offence of the season, leading to the fine. DC exceeded the time limit despite their spinners bowling 10 overs — and took more than 15 extra minutes to complete MI’s innings.
Mumbai made the most of the sluggish DC bowling, with strong contributions from Tilak Varma (59 off 33), Ryan Rickelton (41 off 25), and Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 28), eventually posting a challenging 205/5. Naman Dhir added late fireworks with 38 off just 17 balls.
In response, DC looked on track during the chase, especially with Karun Nair’s blazing 89 off 40 balls on his IPL return. He built a 119-run partnership with Abishek Porel (33 off 25), but once Nair departed in the 12th over, the middle-order collapsed, and DC were bowled out for 193 in 19 overs, falling just short.
Speaking after the match, Axar Patel acknowledged that the team let the game slip:
“We had the game in the bag. Some soft dismissals and bad shots in the middle order. You can’t leave it to the batters in the lower order every time.”
Despite the loss, Axar remained optimistic and praised Kuldeep Yadav, who continued his brilliant form with the ball.
“Kuldeep is bowling unbelievably well. Need to forget this game from a batting point of view and move on,” he added.
The defeat not only ended Delhi’s unbeaten streak but also affected their net run rate (NRR), causing them to slip to second place, below Gujarat Titans. DC will next face Rajasthan Royals, led by Sanju Samson, at home on April 16.