T20 World Cup: Axar Patel steps up as underrated yet crucial cog in India’s title triumph

New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) Amid plenty of accolades being showered on Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya for shining in India’s seven-run win over South Africa in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup final, one should not forget Axar Patel’s crucial knock of 47 off 31 balls. At Kensington Oval, India lost Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav for 34 runs in the power-play. That’s when Axar was promoted up the order as a pinch-hitter and took on South Africa’s spin duo of Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj.

His 47 off 31 balls, laced with a four and four sixes at a strike-rate of 151.61, was the perfect partner to Kohli’s innings of 76. There was a phase where Kohli relied more on strike rotation and Axar became the much-needed aggressive counterpuncher to keep India’s scoreboard ticking as they eventually made 176/7, the highest total in a T20 World Cup final.

“I thought I would be going down the order. But when we lost three wickets early, suddenly Rahul bhai told me, ‘Axar, pad up.’ I did not even get the chance to think about my batting, so that worked for me,” said Axar on the strategy behind his promotion after the trophy was sealed in India’s favour.

Axar took up the attacking mantle by clipping Kagiso Rabada for four, clearing deep mid-wicket to get a six off Aiden Markram, slog-sweeping Keshav Maharaj for a maximum over the same region, and hitting a flat six down on one knee to just clear long-on for a six off Tabraiz Shamsi. Axar brought up India’s hundred in 13.1 overs by hammering Rabada for an eye-catching six down the ground.

Axar’s rise as a dependable batter with free-flowing leg-side shots can be traced to the last two seasons of IPL with Delhi Capitals – making 283 runs in 14 innings in 2023 and 235 runs in 14 innings in 2024. In between, there were vital knocks for the Indian Test team which bailed the side out of trouble.

In this World Cup, Axar’s earlier promotion in the clash resulted in him making a quick-fire 20 which upped India’s power-play game despite early loss of wickets. Add to it, his three-wicket spell which derailed England in the semi-final and an astonishing one-handed catch near the boundary rope to end Mitchell Marsh’s stay in the Super Eights clash at St Lucia.

“He’s been amazing. If you look at Axar Patel during the past two years in IPL for the Delhi Capitals, he has been a guy who the team always looked up to for scoring runs, picking wickets, and taking amazing catches. Like that one-handed catch against Australia, he is a guy who is like reliable.”

“With his bowling, the high arm action helps him get bounce off every wicket and he becomes very hard to score off, as he’s very accurate. Even if Bapu gets hit for runs, there is no change in his demeanor. So, Bapu is there in the team like somebody who is a rock,” says Biju George, the Delhi Capitals’ fielding coach, to IANS.

George, the former India women’s fielding coach, also attributes Axar’s batting resurgence and his crucial impetus in the side’s innings in the title clash to the trust in him shown by the Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting and director of cricket Sourav Ganguly.

“The way he batted in the final, it’s because he is used to those situations playing for Delhi Capitals. Plus, the management featuring Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponding trusts him so much with the bat. They tell him like, see, you are one of our major players in this team.”

“So, when you are assured like you become one of the mainstays in the team. When the legends of the world of cricket like Ganguly and Ponding tell him that you are valued in this franchise, it certainly motivates you to go one more extra step in your batting. That is what he is doing, and yes, the best is yet to come,” he added.

Last year, Axar missed being a part of India’s squad in the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup due to a quadriceps injury sustained during the Asia Cup. “You look at my World Cup record or a major series, it’s always an injury at the wrong time that forces me on the sidelines. I am just not going to think about all these things for now,” he would say on a Delhi Capitals media day in April.

Though he had a forgettable time with the final, including being hit for 24 runs by Heinrich Klaasen, Axar has finally become a T20 World Cup champion, where his underrated yet crucial batting contribution helped India end the 13-year drought. “This time, I felt that I had to do something good for India. Finally, I did it. I’m feeling so proud.”

–IANS

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