Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah played massive roles in India’s successful T20 World Cup defence. But hang on. There’s another one.
If not for some timely scalps and sharp catches at crucial junctures from Axar Patel, would retaining the T20 crown be so easy for India? Not just the wickets and catches, even the dot balls from Axar, especially in the Powerplay, were priceless in India’s Cup journey.
It began from the virtual quarter-final against the West Indies at Eden Gardens. With his left-arm spin, Axar churned out quite a few dot balls, which felled rival captain Shai Hope’s strike rate to below 100. Those dot balls were key to India restricting the Windies to a below 200-plus total.
Against England in the semi-final at the Wankhede, the catch Axar took of Harry Brook off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling drew parallels to that unforgettable Kapil Dev catch for the dismissal of Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord’s. Thereafter, his sprint at the deep for a relay catch (with Shivam Dube) sent a well-set Will Jacks back.
And in between, Axar, focusing largely on the stumps, varied his pace and got the ball to dip just a bit to castle Tom Banton, who had already smashed a couple of maximums and a boundary off his first four balls.
England, precisely, were just a big hit short of India’s 253-run total. If not for those contributions of Axar, that semi-final would have been even closer.
“Those two catches underline the kind of improvement Axar has made in terms of awareness as well as maturity,” a Team India source said on Tuesday. “Besides, another quality of his is to stay relaxed and not show the pressure even if the situation is
difficult.”
“He uses his common sense and gets the basics right consistently. That sums up his attitude and approach on the field,” Axar’s former Gujarat teammate Priyank Panchal, who was also selected in the Indian team for their 2021-22 Test tour of South Africa, told The Telegraph.
In the decider in Ahmedabad, New Zealand did get off to a strong start. But just as captain Suryakumar Yadav handed the ball over to his deputy in the third over of the run chase, Axar's length induced an error off the dangerous Finn Allen. And the task only got easier and easier for India thereafter.
As for someone who does his job quietly and seems willing to do so and be there for his team without having any complaints of being an unsung hero, India are certainly fortunate to have a team-man like Axar, at least in the game’s shortest version. Head coach Gautam Gambhir quite often emphasises the need for players of his team to be selfless. The frequency at which Axar puts his hands up when his team needs him to, he does come across as one of those selfless cricketers.
“Well, Axar used to be just as useful even before this World Cup. His impact used to be the same. It’s not that he has made major changes in his bowling of late, but yes, he has ensured to perform at the right junctures in this World Cup, which has gained more attention and made people notice,” Panchal, Gujarat’s highest run scorer (8,856 runs from 127 matches) in first-class cricket, emphasised.
“And of course, he’s an absolute team-man... Never really thinks about individual milestones and landmarks,” Panchal added.
At present, Axar must be eyeing a successful IPL campaign with Delhi Capitals. Last year, under his leadership, the Capitals finished fifth, while Axar too had missed a few games due to illness.
This time, if he can lead the Capitals to the playoffs with some inspiring performances from his side as well, that should further strengthen his position in the Indian team.
