Team India won the third Test convincingly by 10 wickets against England in Ahmedabad that too inside 2 days. And the credit certainly goes to the spinners, especially Axar Patel, who was playing his only second Test. However, it was a long wait for the youngster as he was out of action for a long time for India. But that didn’t affect his performance as he knew, his time would come.
“I think it’s all about confidence,” said the 27-year-old spinner. He claimed a record 11 wickets in the day-night third Test against England and the left-arm spinner finally got the chance to showcase his calibre seven years after he made his Team India debut in an ODI against Bangladesh as well.
He never sealed his place in the team as his place was later taken by another all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Even, in this series too, he came in place when Jadeja was out of the team after sustaining an injury. He was out of the national team since 2018 and made his Test debut for India only in the second game against England in Chennai.
“I have been out of the team for three years and at that time, I used to think about the areas of my game which need to be worked upon. So, I was working on my bowling and batting,” Axar Patel said to Hardik Pandya in a bcci.tv interview. “When you are out of the team, many people, friends keep asking you ‘why aren’t you in the team despite doing well?’ These things keep coming in the mind.”
So far, he has taken 152 wickets in 41 first-class matches which came at an impressive average of 25.25 as well. He even acknowledged his family’s role behind his struggle and recent success as well.
“So, I told myself ‘just wait for the right time and whenever I get an opportunity I will give my 100 per cent’. I give all credit to my family, friends and teammates who supported me in tough times,” he said.
However, the spinner added that he would aim to continue his form in front of his home crowd in the fourth and final Test against England in the same venue, starting from March 4.
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