India’s current T20I vice-captain Axar Patel recently reflected on his crucial knock in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, revealing that his promotion up the order came as a surprise.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo’s The Cricket Monthly, as quoted by NDTV Sports, Axar said: “I didn’t know I was going to bat at 5. It all happened suddenly. With Virat bhai at the other end, and the way he was calmly manoeuvring the situation, I did not need to worry that much. If the match-up was in my favour, I would go for my strokes and then rotate the strike. Getting about ten runs an over was good, and that is how we calculated our approach.”
Axar came in during a pressure situation when India were struggling at 34/3 after losing Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. He took the responsibility of rebuilding the innings with Virat Kohli and stitched a 72-run partnership off 54 balls, which played a key role in taking India to 176/7.
Axar adopted an aggressive approach in the partnership and ensured the scoring rate stayed healthy while Kohli played the role of the anchor. The left-hander scored 47 off 31 balls, hitting one four and four sixes at a strike rate of 151.61. With the ball, he also picked up the crucial wicket of Tristan Stubbs.
In the end, India bagged the title and it was their second Men’s T20 World Cup title after winning the inaugural edition back in 2007.
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