Kuldeep Yadav has dominated most of the talk in the rousing start to India’s Asia Cup campaign. For sure, the chinaman bowler, with his seven wickets in the competition, came across as almost unplayable for the UAE and Pakistan batters on the helpful Dubai pitch.
Yes, the batting of India’s opponents so far has been below par. But to give credit where it’s due, Kuldeep’s task was made easier not by Jasprit Bumrah, but by his spin colleague Axar Patel.
With dot balls and a crucial wicket or two, all-rounder Axar made the situation ideal for Kuldeep as he came on to bowl. Against the UAE, the left-arm spinner took just a wicket towards the end of the innings but had kept
the batters quiet with 11 dot balls, coming on as the first change after Hardik Pandya and Bumrah.
Against Pakistan last Sunday, skipper Suryakumar Yadav brought Axar into the attack a little later, yet he made his presence felt. The third-wicket partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman had been doing well to stabilise the Pakistan innings after their two early wickets.
However, Axar struck before the pair could do further damage, dragging his length back a little bit and taking a bit of pace off the pitch which forced Fakhar to mistime the ball and perish in the deep. In his next over, Axar’s accuracy earned him his second scalp of the game, forcing a mis-hit from Pakistan captain Salman
Ali Agha.
Axar’s double strike, — Pakistan already reeling at 49/4 in 10 overs — made it easier for Kuldeep to pin them down further. Precisely, Axar’s spell (2/18) with 15 dot balls was probably as important since it rocked Pakistan just when they were looking to gain a bit of momentum.
“Axar usually comes in to bowl after the Powerplay. His bowling is different from guys like Kuldeep and Varun (Chakravarthy), but all three of them are complementing each other well. Axar isn’t a big turner of the ball, but by consistently targeting the stumps, he’ll keep coming at you.
“The control he can provide to his team in the middle overs not just puts a hold on the acceleration of the batting side, but also sets it up for the other bowlers. If he bowls
five or more dot balls in each of his spells, that’s a big factor in slowing down the opposition’s scoring rate,” former national selector Salil Ankola told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
No wonder Axar’s role, especially with the ball in the middle overs, will assume greater importance in the Super Four stage of this Asia Cup, particularly if India face Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Obviously, India are well ahead of these two teams as well in terms of overall quality and skills, but given the uncertainty of the T20 format, these two opponents cannot be taken lightly.
Not just in this Asia Cup, but even in the games leading up to next year’s T20 World Cup, Axar will be a key figure for India. His fielding, too, is an important aspect of his game — considering a few of the catches he had taken in the 2024 T20 World Cup —
and the onus will be on the 31-year-old to ensure India don’t miss Ravindra Jadeja when it comes to their successful defence of the T20 showpiece event.
“He’s quite wily to use the pace or slowness of the pitch to his advantage. On surfaces such as those in Dubai, he knows how to use the flight and trajectory... He’s quite a clever bowler to make use of these conditions,” Ankola said.