Not RCB! Axar Patel Picks His Favourites To Win IPL 2026 Title Ahead Of Playoffs

Last Updated:May 25, 2026, 00:42 IST

Ahead of the IPL 2026 playoffs, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel has made his predictions for the title winners of this year's Indian Premier League season.

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face 2022 winners Gujarat Titans in the first qualifier of IPL 2026 on Tuesday (May 26) in Dharamsala, and the Eliminator match is scheduled between 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and inaugural edition winners Rajasthan Royals at Mullanpur in New Chandigarh on Wednesday (May 27). The winner of Q1 will qualify directly for the finals, whereas the loser will face the winner of the eliminator in the second qualifier on Friday (May 29) in New Chandigarh for a place in the final of IPL 2026, which is set to take place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 31.

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Following the conclusion of the last league match of this year’s IPL between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals on Sunday (May 24), which DC won by 40 runs at Eden Gardens, DC skipper Axar Patel was asked to pick the strongest team in the IPL playoffs.

And the left-handed batter from Gujarat, who has been associated with DC in the IPL since 2018, ignored RCB and instead picked Sunrisers as the strongest.

According to Axar, Sunrisers are looking very strong, and when their top three score runs, they become very difficult to stop.

“I think SRH are looking very strong. When their top 3 (batters) score runs, that team becomes very difficult to stop. So I think SRH," Axar said.

In the ongoing 2026 edition of IPL, SRH amassed a total of 18 points in the league stage. They secured 9 wins and lost 5 matches. But due to an inferior net run rate in comparison with RCB and GT, SRH finished third in the points table.

For the Hyderabad-based franchise, three batters—Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, and Abhishek Sharma—have managed to score more than 500 runs in the ongoing season, and they will be their biggest hopes in the upcoming knockout matches.

In SRH’s last league match of IPL 2026, all three of them scored half-centuries against RCB at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday (May 22) to help them secure a win by 55 runs.

Apart from them, Australia’s Travis Head will also be a key player for the Orange Army with the bat, and the onus of bowling will be on the shoulders of skipper Cummins, Sri Lanka’s Eshan Malinga, and uncapped Indian pacer Sakib Hussain.

Sakib, who made his IPL debut on April 13, 2026, against Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad, has picked up at least one wicket in each of his first 10 IPL matches. He is the first player in IPL history to achieve this feat.

News cricket Not RCB! Axar Patel Picks His Favourites To Win IPL 2026 Title Ahead Of Playoffs

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