Indian spin bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, who has recently been named vice-captain of the Indian team for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, opened up on how the stellar suggestion from MS Dhoni helped him revive his career that was falling apart.
Axar Patel, the Indian all-rounder, has recently been promoted across all formats of the game after he proved his batting finesse for the first time during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against the Proteas in a vital partnership with Virat Kohli.
With the two legends of Indian cricket, Rohit and Virat, retired from the T20 format, this will be the first ICC tournament that India will play without their two legends. Rohit Sharma has been part of every ICC T20 World Cup since the inaugural season of 2007.
Axar Patel credits MS Dhoni for his development as a batter
Axar Patel made his debut back in 2015 under MS Dhoni’s leadership and could manage just 11 opportunities in 3 years of international cricket. He then made a comeback to the national setup in 2021, and since then, his form has been impressive.
Axar Patel has dropped an honest confession and credited the former Indian captain and then mentor of the World Cup squad for having developed his skill. However, now Axar is the finest and the frontline all-rounder for India in T20s after Hardik Pandya.
“I started as a batter but became a full-time spinner when I reached the NCA. In my early days, I didn’t do well with the bat and started doubting myself. When I got dropped in 2018, I worked very hard on my batting.”
“When MS Dhoni was the mentor of the 2021 World Cup team, he told me that in my earlier days under his captaincy, I put pressure on myself by thinking I had to perform all the time, instead of believing that I was a capable batter. Slowly, I started implementing what Mahi bhai had told me and regained my confidence,” Axar said, as quoted by TOI.
“When I go out to bat, I don’t think of myself as a floater” – Axar Patel on his developed batting skills
Axar Patel soon cited that he had developed and was developing further with the practices every day. From being a lower-order batter at no. From 7 and 8, he started batting regularly at the top of the order across all formats of the game for India.
He also claimed that the team management has shown faith in him and his abilities as an aggressor at the top of the order; however, there has been no directive to blindly accelerate during his stay on the crease.
“If I’ve been sent up the order, that means the team trusts me and believes I have the talent to perform that role. When I go out to bat, I don’t think of myself as a floater. The team management tells me that I’m not sent in just to blindly accelerate the scoring, play out a tough spell, or target a particular spinner. I am given a role like any other specialist batter,” Axar added.
Axar Patel has been sidelined from the upcoming ODIs
Axar Patel, the veteran all-rounder from India, has not been picked in the ODI series squad against New Zealand. Instead, he will return only to feature for India in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Also, Axar, the vice-captain of the Indian team, who replaced Shubman Gill, is one of the players from the previous edition and also one of the finest on show for India. This time too, they will have several key build-up
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