Champions Trophy: Axar’s hidden batting talent comes to the fore

Mumbai: Ahead of the Champions Trophy tournament, India coach Gautam Gambhir had highlighted the value of having the option of Axar Patel at No.5 in the batting line-up.

There was a debate whether the position was a bit too high for the Gujarat all-rounder. For the team management, however, Axar provided the flexibility.

The southpaw has come to Dubai and continued to impress. The advantage is his ability to play as per the situation, if the team has lost wickets and is under pressure he consolidates.

In the tough CT group game against New Zealand, when India collapsed to 30/3, he joined Shreyas Iyer to add 98 runs and contribute towards India reaching a decent total of 249/9. In the semifinal, against Australia, in the tough chase, he chipped in with a useful 27 off 30 balls at No 5 to underline his value in batting.

He has the knack of lifting his performances in big games. In the 2024 T20 World Cup final, against South Africa in Barbados, and in a tight game, when India were struggling at 34/3, Axar had come up with a 31-ball 47 (SR 151.61) to help lift the side.

While there were doubters about the move to promote Axar, for those who have seen him from the start, his success with the bat is no surprise.

“Axar was there when we became champions of the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare and T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 season. He has played so many match-winning innings when it comes to all three tournaments,” says former Gujarat coach Hitesh Majmudar, under whom Axar made his state team debut.

In India colours, the world is taking note of Axar’s performances but Majmudar shares an innings he played of nine years ago to underline his batting ability.

“When we became the Ranji champions, the matches were at neutral venue. In our season’s first match, against Baroda, the Pathan brothers and the Pandya brothers, everyone played, Baroda scored 540/8 declared at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium,” said Majmudar. “We were 177/4, Parthiv Patel, Samit Gohel, Priyank Panchal were all gone. Then Manpreet Juneja and Axar Patel got together, Manpreet got an unbeaten double hundred 200 and Axar got 110 not out, and we scored 555 for four, it was his first first-class century.”

Core strength

“When he started with under-16, his core strength was always batting. In Under-19 for Gujarat, he had done exceedingly well in batting and won the BCCI’s Best All-rounder’s Award (U-19). Once (in a Ranji Trophy game) he performed well in bowling picking a fifer against Mumbai and Mumbai Indians (scouts) called him for trials, along with Jasprit Bumrah. He got the tag of a bowler from there,” said Manishbhai Desai, Axar’s mentor and President of the Kheda District Cricket Association, Nadiad.

The key to the improvement is in the work he does in the nets. Vishal Jayswal is a 26-year-old all-rounder from Nadiad, who is trying to follow in Axar’s footsteps being a left-arm spinner and left-hand batter. A regular training partner at their hometown Nadiad district nets or Gujarat state team nets, Jayswal looks up to Axar for inspiration and guidance.

“Whenever he comes to bat, I go to bowl to him,” said Jayswal, who two seasons ago was the highest wicket-taker in the Under-25 competition to help Gujarat become champions.

“He not only bats for long hours in the nets, his mindset is very different. He will not come and tell us where to bowl, it’s about you do your stuff, I will do my stuff. For him, it’s about batting with different match situations in mind, how to keep the game alive or how he can finish the game. That’s why he is getting the results in the matches because he has already trained himself to face that situation,” said Jayswal, who played under Axar’s captaincy in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

When asked about the difference between Axar two years ago and now, Jayswal said: “Long hits. In every session, two-three balls are lost on his big hits.”

It makes him a dangerous player at any point in the match — someone capable of handling the tough overs or attacking if so required.

For Majmudar, Axar’s temperament is a big plus in handling pressure situations. “He is a happy-go-lucky guy, very down to earth, he doesn’t care if gets out on zero or scores a hundred after the match, a plus point for him.”