Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel has picked Axar Patel over Ravindra Jadeja in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad. Patel has been in fine form in the ongoing three-match T20I series against Afghanistan.
The left-arm spinner returned with impressive figures of 2-17 in his quota of four overs to restrict Afghanistan to a below-par score of 172 runs in the second T20I at Indore.
Patel accounted for Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran and top-scorer Gulbadin Naib. The left-arm orthodox spinner bowled Zadran and had Naib caught by skipper Rohit Sharma.
Patel once again backed his strength of bowling straight at the stumps and didn’t give any freedom to Afghanistan batters to free their arms. The 29-year-old from Gujarat had also registered impressive figures of 2-23 in the opening T20I of the series.
Axar Patel was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine bowling show in the second game. Patel also completed 200 T20 wickets in his career after bagging two wickets against Afghanistan.
Speaking to JioCinema, Parthiv Patel said, “In this format, yes. I think Axar brings in more variety. He doesn’t bowl in a one-dimensional way. He bats at any number. If you look at this Indian team, you need a power hitter, and Axar brings that. And in this format, Axar is ahead of Jadeja, as far as I am concerned. He is someone who can perform everywhere. In this T20 format, yes, we talk about Ravindra Jadeja, but I think Axar gives you that stability. He bowls in powerplays, and it makes him an even better cricketer.”
Patel added that Axar’s strength is his accuracy as he is always bowling straight at the stumps.
“His strength is the accuracy with which he bowls with. He doesn’t bowl in the slot, most of the time. If you want to hit him, you have to hit him use the feet or make room. And using feet is not easy against him because of the pace with which he bowls,” said Patel.
The third and last T20I of the series between India and Afghanistan will be played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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