South Africa needed 54 runs off the last 36 balls in the T20 World Cup final against India at Barbados. Axar Patel was given the 15th over by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. But, the left-arm orthodox spinner was smashed for 24 runs by Heinrich Klaasen, who took him for two sixes and as many fours.
With the Proteas requiring a run-a-ball 30 to win their maiden World Cup title, Rohit Sharma came up to Axar Patel and said, ‘Match khatam nahi hua’ (match is not over yet).
India’s trio of – Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya – then got the team back into the contest as the Men in Blue registered a thrilling seven-run win. Bumrah conceded only six runs in the two overs whereas Hardik Pandya got the big wickets of well-settled Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.
“For the first five seconds Yes, I thought it was over. I was down but I had that intuition that we might turn it around. Rohit bhai came to me and told me ‘match khatam nahi hua hai (Match is not over yet).’ In the bilateral series when you get hit, you immediately let your shoulders down, and your body language shows that you have given up. But in that match, none of us were ready to give up. We wanted to take it to the final ball of the 20th over,” Axar told the Indian Express
On the other hand, Axar Patel scored a crucial knock of 31-ball 47 and gave the much-needed impetus after India lost three quick wickets of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav. However, Patel was run out and admitted he was dismissed at the wrong time.
“I got out at the wrong time. It was my mistake. I was not alert. I was angry with myself. I was hitting the ball well, and also, Virat bhai was also set at the other end. We were planning to accelerate. We could have added more runs for sure. For three overs, I was sitting alone then Bumrah came and gave me a tap on my shoulder and said, ‘You have to bowl four overs. You have given us momentum. Let it go now’,” he added.
Axar Patel is part of both T20I and ODI squads against Sri Lanka.
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