KL Rahul and Abishek Porel (BCCI/IPL Photo)

NEW DELHI: Young Abhishek Porel is relishing his time at Delhi Capitals under the captaincy of Axar Patel and expressed gratitude to senior player KL Rahul for his encouragement after a missed catch during Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings. Despite the blip in the field, Porel made a significant contribution with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 34 off 18 balls to help his team chase down the target successfully in their IPL 2025 clash on Sunday.
Having played alongside Axar Patel for the past two seasons, Porel has developed a better understanding of his leadership style.
“Off the field, he’s very funny. On the field, he’s also a very motivated guy. Overall, the captaincy was really good. I really enjoyed playing under his captaincy,” Porel shared during the post-match press conference.
With KL Rahul returning to the playing XI following a one-game paternity break, Porel took on the role of a specialist batter. He admitted feeling slightly low after dropping a catch off Aniket Verma but found reassurance in Rahul’s support.

“KL Bhai is like a big brother. He supported me when I dropped the catch (Aniket). He said, ‘no worries’. While batting, he said play your natural shots,” Porel recalled.
Being an experienced wicketkeeper, Rahul also provided valuable insights into the pitch conditions, which helped Porel during his innings.
“After the first innings, he knew how the pitch was behaving. He really backed me.”

Reflecting on the playing surface, Porel was full of praise for the Visakhapatnam track, which has served as a venue for Delhi Capitals in previous seasons as well.
“It was really good. We had home matches last year as well. This year as well, the wicket is good.”
As Porel continues to thrive under Axar Patel’s leadership and receives support from seasoned players like KL Rahul, Delhi Capitals will look to build on their winning momentum in the ongoing IPL season.