Axar Patel
is a player who invariably goes a bit under the radar. Even on Monday, as India fought back to beat Pakistan in a thriller, there weren’t too many discussions about the allrounder’s performance, both with the bat and the ball.
At a time when India were reduced to 19-2 with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both back in the pavilion, Axar was promoted to an unfamiliar No.
4 spot where he came up with a vital 20 off 18 balls, which was a significant contribution on a difficult pitch. And with the ball, he followed up a brilliant 15th over by Jasprit Bumrah with a stingy one where he did not allow Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan to cut loose.
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Axar didn’t get wickets, so no one really spoke about his effort, but only two runs off that over put tremendous pressure on Pakistan at that stage. The mild-mannered Gujarat boy, too, doesn’t want to take too much credit for his show.
“I don’t think my over was the turning point. As far as we were concerned, every over was a turning point. Whatever the captain was changing seemed to be working. As the pressure built up, my plan was not to try too many things, as there was not much for the spinners, and stop the big shots,” Axar said.
But under extreme pressure, the left-armer did get his planning spot on, as he bowled a couple wide outside the off-stump, and then pushed one in which kept the batter guessing.
“It was important that I play with their minds a bit in that stage. So when I bowled a couple outside, I knew the batter would shuffle in and I pushed it in,” Axar said.
Despite being quietly consistent over the years, just as Axar isn’t considered India’s No. 1 spin-bowling allrounder, there hasn’t been much time spent on decoding his batting as well. The team management, though, understands his importance and in the practice sessions leading up to the game against Pakistan, one could see how Rohit Sharma wanted Axar to get some batting form going.
He got long stints with the bat and come match-day, was sent out when the chips were down. His 39-run partnership with Rishabh Pant went a long way in India reaching 80-3 in the first 10 overs, which eventually proved crucial.
“The captain has clearly said before the tournament that apart from the openers’ slots, no other position is fixed. We’ll have to go up and down as per the need of the hour. My brief was not to try anything fancy and get the new ball out of the way so that the big-hitters lower down have the platform,” Axar said.
With the team playing only four specialist batters, the role of four allrounders becomes huge. The 30-year-old is a crucial cog in that wheel.
“It is about the balance. Now we have batting till No. 8 while there are seven bowlers to fall back on. Having options are crucial and we have to keep at it,” Axar said.
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