Abishek Porel: 'I know my game and the support staff knows my game'
Abishek Porel, one of four players retained by DC after IPL 2024, hasn't set the stage on fire, but has been able to do what the team has asked of him
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Apr-2025
Abishek Porel is currently the second-highest run-getter for Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025 behind KL Rahul. He hasn't reached there - 225 runs in eight innings - with big, crushing-the-opposition knocks, but regular, crucial contributions at the top of the order. And those have been coming because "I know my game and the support staff knows my game," Porel says. The team knows what it can get from Porel and he knows what he can give the team.
The season started with a two-ball duck for Porel, one of four players - Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Tristan Stubbs the others - retained by DC ahead of the last auction. Porel said he was "feeling the pressure", but the big men in the backroom, coach Hemang Badani, mentor Kevin Pietersen, captain Axar and others made him pick himself up, and "I am getting the results".
"I am enjoying myself, enjoying every innings I play," Porel said at a press conference after DC beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on Tuesday night for their sixth win in eight games this season. "I am trying to find ways to get better each time I bat. I talk a lot with Hemang sir and KP at training, trying to figure out what I can work on to do better. What I do in training, I bring to the matches.
"Pitches keep changing, but I know my game and the support staff knows my game, what I can do and can't do. They always ask me to be free, bat with freedom, not worry about other things. They say they are with me at all times. I had a couple of bad outings, scored a zero in the first game, and was feeling the pressure, so they all backed me: 'We are with you, don't worry.' KP backed me, Hemang sir backed me, the captain backed me, KL [Rahul] bhai always backs me, he reminded me, 'You did well against LSG [Rahul's former team] last year].' It motivates me.
"Kuldeep bhai keeps telling me, 'You are a very good batsman, you have great timing.' This is very important for a player. Even if you don't back yourself, these people are always backing me. This motivates me to play with freedom and play to my strengths, and I am getting the results."
"The plan for the future is obviously to play for India, play for the national team for many years. But right now, what matters more to me is the IPL trophy"Abishek Porel
There has been just one other failure for Porel this season: a run-a-ball 7 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Apart from that, he has scored 34* in 18 balls vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), 33 in 20 vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK), 33 in 25 vs Mumbai Indians (MI), 49 in 37 vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) and 18 in nine balls vs Gujarat Titans (GT), before scoring 51 in 36 balls to give DC exactly the start they needed against LSG. The last four games have been as opener, as DC have tried to find a fix in the absence of the injured Faf du Plessis and the out-of-touch Jake Fraser-McGurk, with Karun Nair going out with Porel at the top.
Porel has gone at a strike rate of 146.10 this season. Not earth-shattering, but DC have got what they want from him after he had given them 327 runs in 14 matches last season, scoring at a strike rate of 159.51.
And though higher honours might be some way away, Porel has reason to dream, short term as well as long term. "The plan for the future is obviously to play for India, play for the national team for many years," he said. "But right now, what matters more to me is the IPL trophy; how we can do better, how I can contribute to making DC IPL champions."