A viral social media post of Axar Patel venting his frustration has attracted attention. Apparently, he posted on his Instagram handle about hiring a better PR after missing out on ICC ODI World Cup spot to Ravichandran Ashwin. However, the post has turned out to be a fake one, edited by some troll to make it viral.
Despite being a part of the World Cup scheme for the last 12 months, India Cricket Team brought in Ashwin as a last-minute replacement with Axar nursing an injury. With uncertainty over Axar Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid decided to go with an experienced Ashwin.
But was it planned all along? It’s unlikely. Ashwin has only played four ODIs since 2017. And even though he was mostly left out of the ODI squad, considering how important he could be for India’s World Cup aspirations, it was a no-brainer to bring him back. In Axar Patel’s defence, he was supposed to be fit by the IND vs AUS opener on October 8. However, the decision has been made and he is out.
Axar Patel’s viral post
Axar Patel’s fake social media post read, “Should have taken science instead of commerce and hired a better PR” with a broken heart emoji and a skeleton holding a scissor to a heart.
However, it’s fake.
“Axar Patel has failed to recover in time for the World Cup after sustaining a left quadriceps strain during India’s Asia Cup Super Four encounter against Bangladesh. The spin-bowling all-rounder missed the final of the Asia Cup as a result,” ICC stated in a media release on Axar Patel injury.
Axar vs Ashwin
- Axar Patel definitely made his mark in tough chases in West Indies.
- However, Axar Patel never made an impact with the ball and remained in Ravindra Jadeja’s shadows.
- An off-spinner should have always been India’s pick but instead, India opted for continuity with Axar.
- But as he suffered an injury against Bangladesh in Asia Cup, it left the door open for a course correction.
- Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar had a long discussion in Rajkot before the IND vs AUS 3rd ODI.
- And they settled on Ashwin with Axar Patel yet to recover, even giving him a rest in the match instead.
- Ravichandran Ashwin brings in experience and stats to back his claims even though he has hardly played ODIs.
- With 155 wickets in 115 matches, he is by far the better spinner than Axar.
- Furthermore, Ashwin being an off-spinner adds to the spin variety.
- With Ashwin having great exploits in India, he should have been the first-choice.
India Squad for Cricket World Cup 2023
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
WKs: Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (VC)
Seam all-rounders: Shardul Thakur
Spin all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Seamers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
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