"His bowling was as consistent and rock solid as you'd ever see" - Australian legend's huge praise for India all-rounder after 2025 Champions Trophy
Ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes Team India's all-rounders were the backbone of their Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. Ponting especially lavished praise on Axar Patel for his bowling and crafting little cameos with the bat to make life easier for other players.
Although Axar picked up only five wickets in as many matches, he maintainted an excellent economy rate of 4.35, allowing the opposition batters no breather. With the bat, the 31-year-old managed 109 runs in five matches and was entrusted to keep the momentum going with some crafty knocks at No.5.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting recalled saying India would be hard to beat due to their combination. Highlighting Axar's consistency with the ball, he stated:
"Jadeja, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, were all outstanding. I said at the start of the tournament I thought India would be really hard to beat because of their overall balance and because of that mix of youth and experience, and once again, in a final, the captain stands up and gets the job done for his team. Axar Patel is the other one that I think needs a lot of credit for this tournament. I think his bowling was as consistent and rock solid as you'd ever see."
"Then, just some of those little cameos he played with the bat, coming in earlier and sort of steadying the ship and just making life a little bit easier for the lower order in KL Rahul, Pandya, and Jadeja…I think he deserves a lot of credit for his tournament."
Axar's role was crucial during the group-stage game against New Zealand when India had lost their top three inside the powerplay. The left-hander built a 98-run stand with Shreyas Iyer as the Men in Blue dragged themselves to 249. Later, he dismissed Kane Williamson for 81 as India eventually won by 44 runs.
"They probably looked a little bit light on fast bowling" - Ricky Ponting on India's squad for Champions Trophy
In the same discussion, Ponting also hailed Hardik Pandya for chipping in a significant amount of overs in the absence of a second frontline fast bowler in most matches.
"The only thing you would probably say, they probably looked a little bit light on fast bowling, but as it turned out, they didn't need that," he said. "That's where Hardik Pandya's role becomes really important to be able to bowl with a new ball and get through some overs early to make it a little bit easier for the spinners in the backend of their Powerplay and also through the middle overs where they predominantly bowl and spin pretty much right through the middle of the game."
The Men in Blue beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final to clinch their third Champions Trophy title.