Axar Patel stood with his hands stretched, a broad smile lighting up his face after Ishan Kishan completed a comfortable stumping to dismiss Pakistan’s Usman Khan for 44.
The wicket left Pakistan struggling at 73 for five, effectively denting their chase of 176 in the high-voltage T20 World Cup clash on Sunday. From a match situation alone, the left-arm spinner had reason to celebrate, knowing the breakthrough had virtually snuffed out Pakistan’s hopes.
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Yet there may also have been a personal edge to the moment. Usman had taken a liking to Axar earlier, striking six boundaries in his 34-ball knock, including two sets of back-to-back fours.
Reading batter, changing lengths
However, the critical moment of his dismissal was hardly dramatic. There was no magic like what Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakravarthy routinely conjure up, a big rip from outside the off-stump or a missile that darts past the batter in a flash.
But then Axar has never been a sorcerer like them. Even on helpful pitches like the one at the Premadasa, shrewd variations of length stemming out of his sharp observatory powers makes him a formidable customer.
Axar pulled his length back by just that bit, pre-empting Usman’s shimmy. The Pakistan wicketkeeper batter could only swish in hope and Kishan did the rest with ease from behind the stumps.
Axar explained his method. “Basically, what was happening on the wicket, the odd ball was skidding a little more, and some other balls were spinning more. When we came to bowl in the second innings, I realised that the new ball was skidding a little more,” Axar said in the post-match press conference.
“So the plan is to observe what the batsman wants to do, in which area he wants to target me. After that I change my line or length. And the second dismissal (Usman) happened when he was stepping out. So I again went for my length. So, yeah, I plan like that,” he added.
Discipline behind Axar’s rise
A few minutes earlier, Axar also snapped an edgy 16-minute stay of Babar Azam. Sensing Babar’s growing impatience, the 32-year-old slipped in a fuller delivery on the off-stump, and the former Pakistan captain took the bait. A wild slog sweep intended to release the mounting pressure ended in Babar losing his stumps.
“He has always been a kid with a big heart. His biggest asset is his ability to observe, and put those observations into practice. He clearly knows his strengths and limitations. It is a good quality to have for sportspersons,” tells Amrish Patel, childhood coach of Axar.
“Axar has long strides and he puts it into good use, as he can quickly adjust his lengths without any obvious signals to the batsmen. He has a very flexible mind,” he added.
Axar keeps that flexible outlook in his batting as well, though his prowess with the willow was not needed against Pakistan. However, more than his batting position or the amount of runs he scores, Axar’s focus remains on carrying out the orders by the management.
Batting order no concern
Axar has batted on positions from No. 4 to No. 8 in the white-ball formats. When many batters relish a certain degree of security around their batting slots, Axar viewed the uncertainty a bit differently.
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“The job of an all-rounder is that you can bowl or bat at any order. I always think that if the team needs me, then that means they are showing confidence in me that I will work in such a situation.”
“And I will get them out of this situation. So, it is a plus point for me. And, yeah, maybe in the upcoming match, you can see me (bat) higher up also – you never know,” said Axar.
But for now, Axar the batter will be glad to play second fiddle to Axar the bowler, whom India needs more in the T20 World Cup.
(With agency inputs)
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