Axar Patel after Delhi Capitals defeated Rajasthan Royals in a Super Over in their IPL 2025 match. (PHOTO: Sportzpics for IPL)A lot can happen over iPL – it can turn past coffee hater Patels into coffee loving Patels.
To the clanking tunes of ‘Hey Shubharambh, Ho Shubharambh’, the Gujarati ditty, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel narrated how his statemate Harshal of Sunrisers Hyderabad converted him into a coffee fan. The two teams face off in a crucial IPL league match, that can stir the table standings, though DC are in a better position to make Playoffs than SRH.
Narrating from a picture frame of the two on the wall, Axar recalled, “Connection with Harshal goes back to Gujarat, though I didn’t get opportunity to play with him after U19 because he moved to Haryana. But we met again at Delhi Capitals.”
This is where a lot of coffee-talk happened over IPL.
Axar was far from a coffee drinker. His days at his hometown Nadiad would begin with a cup of kadak chai with snacks at a stall just by the canal, right across the cricket ground, and, on most days, end there too. He liked his tea made in a particular way — less water, ginger, a little sugar and some cardamom. Then he met Harshal, he recalled chuckling, to Delhi Capitals socials.
Harshal Patel, who moved to Haryana and completed his engineering (another thing Axar had wanted to pursue too before cricket took over), had taken concocting a crisp coffee brew to the next level.
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“He used to make black coffee and I hated black coffee at that time,” Axar told DC. “But he tried to convince me that black coffee is this and that. How it’s very good, and how it should be prepared,” he recalled.
It was Harshal’s exactitude in something as simple as a mug of frothy coffee that fascinated Axar. “He used to carry a weighing scale, and add only so many grams to the cup. So we got talking over it,” Axar would say. “He turned me into a black coffee lover. So even I drink black coffee now and have become a better player because of that,” he would joke with a cackle, though his love for coffee is genuine.
Axar, who got injured at the last DC game is expected to return, though no confirmation was available. Harshal has been a SRH regular and took 4 wickets recently to eke out a win for Pat Cummins’ side.
DC are on 5th place with 12 points from 6 wins, while SRH are scraping the penultimate step with 6 points from 3 wins. Both lost their last game but DC are hoping to stave off a third straight loss while still harbouring hopes of playoffs.
A rain threat hangs over the game. But a cup of black coffee isn’t far should the cricket not happen. Harshal’s team though need a strong shot to rouse them from their stuttering slumber.
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