He scored one six and a four against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 final.
India’s new No.5 batter Axar Patel heaped praise on his teammate Hardik Pandya after winning the Champions Trophy final. The spin all-rounder expressed how Hardik excels in pressure situations and stays confident during his innings.
“When we’re all under pressure, Hardik Pandya is the most confident guy”, Axar said to Star Sports.
Hardik played a crucial 28-run knock in the semi-final against Australia. In the final against the Blackcaps, the pace all-rounder went out in the middle during a tense situation. Though he couldn’t stay till the end, he contributed with a vital run-a-ball 18 before KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja finished things off with one over remaining.
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The 31-year-old slammed all the critics who previously commented on India’s decision to play with four spinners. Axar credited head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma for judging the situation well and admitted that the result became possible due to this critical strategy.
Furthermore, Axar who added an important 40-ball-29 along with his economical eight-over spell in the final, praised his skipper for winning consecutive ICC tournaments.
“When we were coming to the tournament, everyone felt that we had too many spinners, why do we need so many spinners? But today, when you look at the results, and even after the first two matches, everyone must have realized how important that decision was. And when it comes to captaincy, he knows exactly where to use each player, that is the hallmark of a great captain. With the trophy in hand, what more can one say about his captaincy? He has led the team to become ICC champions consecutively”, added Axar.
Notably, India defeated New Zealand in Dubai as they chased 252 in 49 overs to win their third Champions Trophy. The Men in Blue remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.
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