Axar Patel. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)
All-rounder Axar Patel helped India seal the five-match T20I series against Australia on Friday, December 01 in Raipur as he picked 3/16 in the fourth T20I. The left-arm spinner picked up the scalps of Travis Head, Ben McDermott and Aaron Hardie derailing Australia’s chase in the middle overs.
Courtesy of his spell, the Matthew Wade-led side was restricted to 154/7 in their allotted 20 overs and lost the match by 20 runs. Following his match-winning performance, Patel also opened up on the disappointment of missing out on the ODI World Cup 2023 squad due to injury.
“Obviously, you are bound to be disappointed. The World Cup was in India, but that injury happened. For the first few days, I was thinking about it, not being able to play due to injury. The team was doing well, so after 5-10 days, I was back to training and was doing my rehab,” Patel was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Notably, the 29-year-old was picked in the preliminary squad for the ODI World Cup. However, he failed to recover in time from a left quadriceps injury suffered during the Asia Cup 2023 forcing the team management to bring in Ravichandran Ashwin as his replacement.
Following the World Cup setback, Patel has made a remarkable comeback in international cricket as he’s the second-highest wicket-taker of the ongoing T20I series vs Australia. The southpaw has scalped five wickets from four matches at an average of 22 and an economy of 6.87.
When you come from injury, you try to keep that part of the body safe: Axar Patel
Further speaking ahead, the Gujarat-born cricketer spoke about the challenges he faced after recovering from his injury.
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“When you come from injury, you try to keep that part of the body safe. You are not able to give your full effort. It stays in the back of my mind,” he added.
Having missed out on the ODI World Cup squad this year, Patel will be eager to continue his stellar performances to fix his spot in the T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to be played in the West Indies and the USA.