A splendid innings of 47 off 31 balls by Axar Patel was merely priceless to India’s historic T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados.
“Bappu, thari bowling kamaal che (Axar, your bowling is good),” quipped Virat Kohli in a enjoyable method when Axar Patel made his Take a look at debut in opposition to England in 2021. Whereas this assertion nonetheless holds true, Axar confirmed his mettle as a batter when he turned India’s unsung hero within the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
Axar Patel – India’s disaster man in T20 World Cup 2024
Though he made 92 runs, two of Axar’s innings had been value their weight in gold. Axar was India’s disaster man all through the match, making a 20 in a high-voltage conflict in opposition to Pakistan when each Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had been again within the pavilion. Nonetheless, the innings that outlined his excellent match got here when India wanted it essentially the most. Chipped had been closely down for India once they had been 34/3 within the T20 World Cup 2024 Closing in opposition to South Africa.
What did Rohit say to Axar?
In a current interview with Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Axar revealed some behind-the-scenes talks. He divulged that Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid requested him to pad up when India misplaced the second wicket within the type of Rishabh Pant within the closing.
“When Rohit (Sharma) bhai obtained out, and Rishabh (Pant) obtained out, Rohit bhai got here, he was standing in entrance of me. I used to be sitting in a single finish of the dressing room and Rohit bhai was on the different earlier than he requested me to ‘pad up’. I used to be simply opening up my equipment bag earlier than Rahul Dravid despatched the identical message by way of Yuzvendra Chahal. I used to be padding up and Suryakumar Yadav obtained out on the identical time,” mentioned Axar Patel.
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‘Gujarati-bond’ with Pandya & an ideal associate in Virat Kohli
When Axar went to the crease, India had been 34/3 in 4.3 overs. Axar got here out and batted with freedom. He took South African spinners down, hitting Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Aiden Markram for a six every, after which hit a good-looking six straight down the bottom at Kagiso Rabada as properly. His innings even allowed Kohli to play his pure recreation.
In the identical interview, Axar even revealed what Hardik Pandya, his Gujarati teammate, and Virat Kohli suggested him. “I had no time to suppose as properly. I didn’t even have a look at the scoreboard. After I was going downstairs to the sphere, Hardik Pandya instructed me to simply ‘watch the ball and hit‘ in Gujarati. He requested me not to consider the rest. Then after I entered the crease, Virat (Kohli) bhaiya instructed me ‘Look, we’re 34/3, and we are going to take this partnership until 8-9 overs. By then, our rating will likely be round 60/3. In order that’ll be good and we are able to plan for the remaining overs from there. But when we’ll lose extra wickets, we will likely be on extra backfoot.“
“I discovered a boundary off the primary ball after which the remaining everybody is aware of what I did. I solely thought positively and performed each ball accordingly.”
Axar Patel’s T20 World Cup 2024 stats
- Batting – Runs: 92, Common: 30.66, SR: 139.39
- Bowling – Wickets: 8, Common: 15.5, Econ: 6.88, SR: 13.5
- Fielding – Catches: 4
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