Axar Patel has 138 IPL wickets, but that number sells him short. His real value is what he does not give away: tight left-arm spin through the middle overs that strangles a chase before it starts. This is his complete IPL record for Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals, his wicket-taking laid out season by season, how a lower-order slogger turned into a proper batting all-rounder, and where a bowler this economical actually sits on the all-time IPL wicket-takers list.
Quick Answer - Axar Patel IPL Career
Axar Patel has taken 138 wickets and scored 1,960 runs in 173 IPL matches since his 2014 debut, with a best score of 66 and best bowling of 4/21. He came up as a specialist spinner for Punjab, joined Delhi Capitals in 2019, and has captained them since 2025 as an economical middle-overs bowler rather than a big wicket-taker.
हिन्दी: अक्षर पटेल दिल्ली कैपिटल्स के कप्तान और एक किफ़ायती बाएं हाथ के स्पिनर हैं, और उनके असली मायने उनके 138 विकेट या 1,960 रन नहीं, बल्कि बीच के ओवरों में रन रोकने की उनकी काबिलियत है।
Stats verified via ESPNcricinfo and the official IPL site, updated July 24, 2026.
Axar Patel's IPL Career Journey
Axar was picked by Mumbai Indians in 2013 but did not play a game. Kings XI Punjab signed him in 2014, and he repaid them at once, taking 17 wickets in his debut season and winning the Emerging Player award. In 2016 he bowled the first hat-trick of that year, four wickets in five balls against the Gujarat Lions, finishing with figures of 4/21 that still stand as his IPL best.
Delhi paid five crore for him in 2019 and he has stayed put ever since, the club's longest-serving player. He grew from a bowl-first option into a genuine all-rounder, took over the captaincy in 2025 after Rishabh Pant left, and led the side again in 2026. His wicket tally sits well outside the top bracket, but few spinners match his economy across his Punjab Kings years and the Delhi era combined.
Axar Patel's Wicket-Taking Season by Season
His wicket-taking tells a steady story rather than a spiky one. The table below runs from 2014 to 2024, where every season figure is settled; his 2025 and 2026 returns are covered in the recent-form section further down.
| Season | Team | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Kings XI Punjab | 17 |
| 2015 | Kings XI Punjab | 13 |
| 2016 | Kings XI Punjab | 13 |
| 2017 | Kings XI Punjab | 15 |
| 2018 | Kings XI Punjab | 3 |
| 2019 | Delhi Capitals | 10 |
| 2020 | Delhi Capitals | 9 |
| 2021 | Delhi Capitals | 15 |
| 2022 | Delhi Capitals | 6 |
| 2023 | Delhi Capitals | 11 |
| 2024 | Delhi Capitals | 11 |
| Total (2014-2024) | Punjab and Delhi | 123 |
Axar Patel's Best IPL Season and Batting Growth
2023 was his peak as an all-rounder. He made 283 runs, more than in any other season, at a strike rate of 139.41, and still took 11 wickets at an economy of 7.19. It was the year the two halves of his game finally clicked together across a full campaign, and it is the season his all-round case rests on.
His batting took far longer to arrive than his bowling. He first showed it in 2015 with 206 runs for Punjab, then went quiet for years as a pure lower-order presence. The Delhi move slowly changed that. His runs by season for the Capitals trace the climb: a lean 2021, a burst in 2022 at a strike rate of 151.67, the 283-run peak in 2023, and 235 the next year in 2024, when his highest IPL score of 66 came against the Gujarat Titans.
| Season | Team | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Delhi Capitals | 40 |
| 2022 | Delhi Capitals | 182 |
| 2023 | Delhi Capitals | 283 |
| 2024 | Delhi Capitals | 235 |
Where Axar Patel Ranks Among IPL All-Rounders
Ranked purely on wickets, Axar is nowhere near the top of the IPL pile, and 138 in more than 170 games is a modest return for a specialist spinner. But that misses how he is used. He bowls the hardest overs, middle-order containment against set batters, where economy matters more than strike rate. Measured as an all-rounder who can send down four tight overs and finish an innings, he sits in the upper tier, closer to an all-rounder like Sunil Narine in role, if not in match-winning ceiling. The raw tally undersells a rare skill set.
Punjab era (2014-2018)
- Wickets: 61
- Best figures: 4/21 (2016)
- Debut season: 17 wickets (2014)
- Batting best: 206 runs (2015)
Delhi era (2019 onward)
- Wickets: 62 by end of 2024
- Runs: 967 by end of 2024
- Best batting: 283 runs (2023)
- Captain: since 2025
IPL Records and Milestones Held by Axar Patel
- Bowled the first hat-trick of IPL 2016, four wickets in five balls against the Gujarat Lions, with figures of 4/21 that remain his IPL best.
- IPL Emerging Player of the Year in 2014, when his 17 wickets were among the most in the season.
- One of a small group of players to pass both 1,500 IPL runs and 100 IPL wickets, a genuine all-round double.
- Among the IPL's most economical spinners across a full career, going under an economy of 7 in several of his seasons.
- Delhi Capitals captain since 2025 and their longest-serving current player, at the franchise since 2019.
Axar Patel in IPL 2025 and 2026
The captaincy years have been hard. Axar led Delhi to fifth in 2025, when they were the last team knocked out of the league stage, and to sixth in 2026, when they were eliminated well before the finish and missed the playoffs for a fifth straight year. The side around him has not clicked into a contender.
His own 2026 was a low point with the bat. He struggled for runs through the first half of the season before a captain's 56 off 30 balls against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala, one of the few nights his batting fired. The ball stayed the more reliable half of his game, but the wickets did not flow the way they once did, and the all-round balance that defined 2023 was missing.
Axar splits opinion for a reason. As a bowler he is one of the most underrated spinners of his generation, an economy machine who does the unglamorous job better than almost anyone, and that is why India keep picking him. As a captain the record is not there yet: two seasons, two mid-table finishes, no title, and a 2026 where his own batting dragged. He is not a pick for an all-time IPL XI, and he would not claim to be. The honest read is a high-value role player whose leadership is still an open question, carried by a Delhi side that keeps falling short around him. If the batting returns, the all-rounder case gets a lot stronger.
Frequently Asked Questions - Axar Patel IPL Stats
How many wickets and runs does Axar Patel have in the IPL?
Axar Patel has taken 138 IPL wickets and scored 1,960 runs in 173 matches, with a highest score of 66 and best bowling figures of 4/21. His figures cover Kings XI Punjab from 2014 to 2018 and Delhi Capitals from 2019 onward.
Is Axar Patel a batsman or a bowler in the IPL?
Axar is a bowling all-rounder. His main job is economical left-arm spin in the middle overs, but he has grown into a capable lower-order batter, with his best run seasons coming for Delhi Capitals in 2022 and 2023.
How many IPL titles has Axar Patel won?
Axar has not won an IPL title. Delhi Capitals are one of three original franchises never to win the trophy, and neither they nor Kings XI Punjab lifted it during his time. He has captained Delhi since 2025.
What is Axar Patel's best IPL season?
His best season was 2023, when he scored a career-high 283 runs at a strike rate of 139.41 and took 11 wickets, his most complete all-round campaign. His highest single score, 66, came the next year against the Gujarat Titans.
Why is Axar Patel valued despite modest wicket and run tallies?
His value is control, not volume. Axar has bowled at a low economy in several IPL seasons, choking scoring in the middle overs, and offers real all-round balance and leadership. Those things do not show up in a wickets or runs column but win tight games.
The Bottom Line
Axar Patel is a better cricketer than his IPL headline numbers suggest. The season splits show a bowler who contains more than he strikes, an economy rare among spinners, and a batting game that peaked in 2022 and 2023 before slipping in 2026. The captaincy has brought responsibility without silverware, and Delhi's repeated near-misses are not all on him. Read him as a high-value all-rounder and an elite middle-overs squeeze, and the picture makes sense. Read him only by his wicket count, and you miss the point.
