It is not unusual for Axar Patel to spend almost thirty minutes at nets honing his left-arm spin skills, but concerns about his potential comeback to the starting eleven for India’s crucial match against Zimbabwe give the spectacle more weight.
In the previous game against South Africa in Ahmedabad, Axar was benched in favor of Washington Sundar, which infuriated both supporters and commentators. From a cricketing standpoint, it was a good plan because the management intended to employ Washington’s off-spin in the powerplay against Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton, two powerful left-handers from South Africa.
However, the approach, which was mostly based on match-up calculations, was unsuccessful when Jasprit Bumrah dismissed both Rickelton and De Kock during the powerplay phase.
Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, had hinted about it.
“We spent so much time deliberating about the 11. I guess the only way that it sort of didn’t play into our hands is if we did have the ideal start like we did today with getting Quinton and Rickelton out so early. We were kind of looking at matchups more in the middle. And then obviously, someone has to give way,” PTI quoted Doeschate as saying after the 76-run defeat against the Proteas.
India’s two remaining Super Eights games are now must-win events due to that outcome; the first is against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday. Ryan Burl at number four and opener Tadi Marumani are both left-handers in Zimbabwe’s top order.
Will Washington be able to maintain his spot in the eleven as a result? Or will Axar reappear and push the match-ups? The team management has the opportunity to bring back Axar without compromising Washington due to Rinku Singh’s unavailability, but they also have the choice to choose Kuldeep Yadav.
Beyond the calculations, however, Axar’s ability to target stumps should make him a lock for the Super Eights and beyond. His six wickets from three games have come at an average of 12.16 and an economy of 6.63, demonstrating his overwhelming dominance with the ball.
It is anticipated that the Chepauk surface will be a combination of red and black, with the latter color predominating, for the match against Zimbabwe. Axar’s metronomic abilities would therefore be more valuable if the deck allowed the batters to open their shoulders.
Even head coach Gautam Gambhir has stated that each player’s contribution to the team is taken into consideration rather than just their numbers.
“We don’t look at averages and stats and all that stuff. We look at who can deliver more at that number. And Axar has done fabulously well. There will always be people talking about it, but I think that’s the way we want to go in future as well,” he had said.
Gambhir’s idea is a wonderful fit for the current situation.
