IPL 2016: Axar Patel defends Kings XI Punjab's decision to field only 3 foreign players

Kings XI Punjab all-rounder Axar Patel blamed his team’s poor start as a reason for their loss against Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL 2016 encounter last night. He also rued the fact that he couldn’t finish the game off in the last over as Kolkata won by 7 runs.

KKR batting first put 164 runs on the board courtesy of their opening duo of Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir who put up a brilliant opening stand of 101. Punjab meanwhile, were off to a disastrous start to their chase as they lost their first 3 wickets for just 13 runs.

However, they recovered well courtesy of a brilliant knock by Glenn Maxwell who scored 68 off just 42 balls. When Maxwell got out, it was Axar who brought them close to the target with a breezy cameo of 21 in just 7 balls.

But Punjab’s dreams of a win were dashed when the southpaw was run-out in the last over. He pointed out, "We had a poor start. We lost three wickets in the first six overs and then it became very difficult," he said. "Kolkata [Knight Riders] fielded really well in the end and that's where we lost.”

We wanted to play a proper batsman

Kings XI Punjab fielded a strange unit last night as they included only 3 foreigners in the playing eleven. Talking about this strange ploy, Axar defended his team’s decision, "The pitch here is very slow, so we couldn't play Mitchell Johnson or Kyle Abbott. We had Farhaan Behardien but we also had six bowlers. So we wanted to play a proper batsman. Manan (Vohra) has done well and we wanted to play a pure batsman.”

Punjab required just 12 runs in the last over and it was the West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell who spoiled their party as he bowled a magnificent last over in which he conceded just 4 runs to script a memorable victory for the home side. KKR now sits at the top of the IPL standings with 12 points from 9 games.

Axar also brushed aside any concerns about the loss against Kolkata having any effect on the mood in the camp. He reiterated the fact, “Whenever you lose, obviously, the mood in the camp goes down," He also added, "After the win against Gujarat (Lions), the mood in the camp was very good but after a close loss like this, there isn't a lot of change. Everyone is trying to stay positive. We cannot think that we've lost a few matches and we are out of the tournament."

The KXIP team is surely seeing down the barrel as they suffered their 6th defeat of the tournament in 8 games. The chances of qualifying for the playoffs are looking extremely bleak for them as they have failed to perform as a unit in most of the games.