Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Axar Patel was treated unfairly by the team’s think tank as he didn’t receive his much-deserved chances after the conclusion of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
For England T20Is, Patel has been appointed as the vice-captain and Chopra reckons it is the right call as the all-rounder has performed consistently. Patel had scored a crucial quickfire knock of 47 runs in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
The left-arm orthodox spinner has scalped 65 wickets in 66 T20Is and he has also scored 498 runs. Patel has also been used as a floater by the team in the shortest format of the game.
“Axar Patel has been appointed the vice-captain. He is given very few chances. It seemed like he was being treated unfairly every time. So the selection committee said this time that they would make him the vice-captain. He will have to be played now and made to bowl his entire quota of overs,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Axar Patel had a huge role in winning the World Cup, including the final. However, he is either not given a bowl or not made to bat. It was beyond my understanding why Axar Patel wasn’t being treated properly. Now he can discuss with Surya and ask him to let him bowl three to four overs,” he observed.
The renowned commentator reckons Varun Chakravarthy will be the team’s lead spinner for the upcoming T20I series against England.
”Axar Patel will be seen playing and one more spinner will play with him, that will be Varun Chakaravarthy at this point in time. Your XI will be something like this – Abhishek Sharma with Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma at No. 3, Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 5, Rinku Singh at No. 6 and Hardik Pandya at No. 7,” he said.
“You could shuffle the batting order a little bit and you will see Axar Patel at No. 8. Only three places are left after that. That will be Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh. So two of your spinners are never going to play. You won’t play three spinners,” Chopra observed.
India will take on England in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 22nd January.
