He missed out on last year's ODI World Cup due to an injury and it has been a resounding comeback for the 30-year-old.
The Indian team put up a stellar display to win the T20 World Cup 2024 last month and ended a wait of 13 years. A key cog in that side was dynamic left-handed all-rounder Axar Patel.
Axar showed brilliant versatility, not just with the ball but also with the bat, stepping up whenever the occasion arises.
He played a pivotal role in India’s victorious campaign, delivering key breakthroughs with his left-arm spin and contributing essential runs with powerful hits for Rohit Sharma’s team.
Incidentally, Axar missed out on last year’s ODI World Cup due to an injury and it has been a resounding comeback for the 30-year-old.
“When the T20 World Cup was in Dubai in 2021, Hardik Pandya was injured, and Shardul Thakur stepped in. Before the 2023 World Cup, I got injured and was out of the squad. R Ashwin took my place,” Axar said in an interview with Cricbuzz.
Axar also revealed that he had a bit of an existential crisis in the interim after missing the marquee event last year but the recent World Cup win has made him realise that ‘god had different plans’.
He added, “After winning the World Cup in the West Indies, I realized I had been too hard on myself for asking that existential question of why it always seemed to happen to me. Evidently God had different plans for me. He wanted me to be part of a World Cup-winning side.”
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Axar Patel’s heroics have made him a mainstay in the Indian side as he will now feature next in the upcoming white-ball series when India tour neighbours Sri Lanka later this month for three T20Is and as many ODIs.
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