“Bappu, thari bowling kamaal che (Axar, your bowling is brilliant),” quipped Virat Kohli in a fun manner when Axar Patel made his Test debut against England in 2021. While this statement still holds true, Axar showed his mettle as a batter when he became India’s unsung hero in the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
Axar Patel – India’s crisis man in T20 World Cup 2024
Although he made 92 runs, two of Axar’s innings were worth their weight in gold. Axar was India’s crisis man throughout the tournament, making a 20 in a high-voltage clash against Pakistan when both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were back in the pavilion. However, the innings that defined his superb tournament came when India needed it the most. Chipped were heavily down for India when they were 34/3 in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final against South Africa.
What did Rohit say to Axar?
In a recent interview with Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Axar revealed some behind-the-scenes talks. He divulged that Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid asked him to pad up when India lost the second wicket in the form of Rishabh Pant in the final.
“When Rohit (Sharma) bhai got out, and Rishabh (Pant) got out, Rohit bhai came, he was standing in front of me. I was sitting in one end of the dressing room and Rohit bhai was at the other before he asked me to ‘pad up’. I was just opening up my kit bag before Rahul Dravid sent the same message via Yuzvendra Chahal. I was padding up and Suryakumar Yadav got out at the same time,” said Axar Patel.
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When Axar went to the crease, India were 34/3 in 4.3 overs. Axar came out and batted with freedom. He took South African spinners down, hitting Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Aiden Markram for a six each, and then hit a handsome six straight down the ground at Kagiso Rabada as well. His innings even allowed Kohli to play his natural game.
In the same interview, Axar even revealed what Hardik Pandya, his Gujarati teammate, and Virat Kohli advised him. “I had no time to think as well. I didn’t even look at the scoreboard. When I was going downstairs to the field, Hardik Pandya told me to just ‘watch the ball and hit‘ in Gujarati. He asked me not to think about anything else. Then when I entered the crease, Virat (Kohli) bhaiya told me ‘Look, we are 34/3, and we will take this partnership till 8-9 overs. By then, our score will be around 60/3. So that’ll be good and we can plan for the remaining overs from there. But if we’ll lose more wickets, we will be on more backfoot.“
“I found a boundary off the first ball and then the rest everyone knows what I did. I only thought positively and played every ball accordingly.”
Axar Patel’s T20 World Cup 2024 stats
- Batting – Runs: 92, Average: 30.66, SR: 139.39
- Bowling – Wickets: 8, Average: 15.5, Econ: 6.88, SR: 13.5
- Fielding – Catches: 4
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