Axar Patel: A downhill ride trapped between Ashwin-Jadeja and Kuldeep-Chahal
The lanky all-rounder from Gujarat, Axar Patel, is a left-hand batsman and bowls slow left-arm orthodox spin. He came into the mentions during the ACC Emerging Teams Cup 2013 when in the semi-final of the tournament, his 4-for against the UAE helped India's way to the final. In this match, at one stage, the UAE (97/1) was on the way to chase down India's score of 208 runs, but Axar Patel sparked a collapse, picking up three wickets in the span of just 18 balls.
He won 'the BCCI under-19 player' award for the season 2013-14 where he scored 369 runs at 46.12 with the bat and picked 29 wickets at 23.58 with the ball. In the IPL 2014, playing for Kings XI Punjab, Axar became the emerging player of the year.
As a result of some notable achievements, he found a place in the Indian ODI squad for the tour to Bangladesh that followed the IPL 2014.
Fine performances under his belt
As a batsman, he has not got many opportunities so far in international cricket, but he has shown the ability to score quick runs down the order. He holds a strike rate of 95.26 in ODIs and 125.93 in T20s.
As a bowler, he is not a big turner of the ball but has the knack to contain the batsmen with his accurate line and length. Till date, he has picked 45 wickets at 31.31 in 38 ODIs and 9 wickets at 29.44 in 11 T20is. The speciality of Axar's bowling has been his parsimonious economy rate, that is 4.43 in ODI cricket and 6.79 in T20 Internationals.
Sidelined before the experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja
When Axar Patel came into the side, India had the experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja at the helm. Axar, whenever got chances, did exceedingly well to challenge them. A few times, even Axar forced Jadeja or Ashwin to sit out for him. He performed better than them whenever he was in the team alongside them.
Stats of Ashwin and Axar when both played together in 7 ODIs
Ashwin 10 wickets at an average of 32.10, an economy of 4.72, and a strike rate of 40.8.
Axar 12 wickets at an average of 23.75, an economy of 4.59, and a strike rate of 31.
Stats of Jadeja and Axar when both played together in 5 ODIs
Jadeja 3 wickets at an average of 78, an economy of 6.53, and a strike rate of 71.6.
Axar 6 wickets at an average of 25.33, an economy of 4.10, and a strike rate of 37.
Despite these numbers, Axar Patel had to sit on the bench throughout the World Cup 2015 and found no place in the squad for the ICC Champions trophy 2017.
Chance for Axar after the axing of Ashwin and Jadeja?
After an inglorious defeat in the final of the Champions trophy, India thought about replacing Ashwin and Jadeja with young spinners. Though the experienced duo was given one last chance for the tour to the Windies that followed the Champions trophy, they were not chosen for the next assignment in Sri Lanka. In such scenario, Axar became the head choice for spin bowling with Kuldeep or Chahal as his partner.
As an economical bowler, the Gujarati fellow performed expectantly, but the wicket-taking incompetency that was the salient feature of the other competitors Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, forced the captain to apply the pair of the wrist spinners.
On Sri Lanka tour, Axar featured in the first four games before Virat Kohli opted for the pair of Kuldeep and Chahal in the last match. In those four matches, Axar's economy rate was an unbelievable 3.84, but he could only pick up 6 wickets.
With every match, the pair of the leggies kept improving. As a result, Axar Patel struggled for the place in the playing eleven, and finally, he got dropped from the squad.
What's next for him?
Naturally, Axar Patel is a batting all-rounder, but he has not looked good-enough on the batting front so far in his career. He needs to polish this aspect of his game to press for his selection in the team as a genuine all-rounder. There is no better platform than IPL for the fringe players where Axar will be donning the jersey of the Delhi Capitals in the upcoming season. A great season here can open the door for him.