Crisis man Axar on a mission to make up for lost time

Shane Warne’s tentacular hold over Daryll Cullinan is hardly a secret. Such was the leg-spinning genius’ mastery over the South African virtuoso that in seven Tests against the Australians, Cullinan averaged a measly 12.75, falling to Warne four times.

In all, Warne dismissed Cullinan on 12 occasions in 29 matches across formats, forcing the latter to seek the help of a sports psychiatrist before South Africa’s tour of Australia in 1997-98. The master of the mind, Warne didn’t let Cullinan forget that he had his number, which led to one of the most hilarious counter-sledges in the history of the game.

When they came face to face in a Test the next time, Warne chirped from slip, “Now Daryll, don’t you dare get out, I’ve been waiting four years for this opportunity to get you again.”

Having had enough of Warne, understandably, a peeved Cullinan retorted, “It looks like you’ve spent it eating too,” a direct reference to his opponent’s weight. Even Warne appreciated the spontaneity of that reply, “Not bad from you, Daryll. Not bad, pretty good.”

In fact, the Warne grip on Cullinan assumed such legendary proportions that Adam Parore, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, too decided to get in on the act. When Chris Harris, with his assortment of leg-breaks that bore no resemblance to the Australian magician, elicited a defensive stroke from Cullinan in a Test, Parore chimed from behind the sticks, “Bowled, Warnie.” This time, Cullinan saw the funny side of things, flashing a broad smile in the direction of the maverick Kiwi stumper.

No one, of course, will parrot ‘Bowled, Jaddu,’ when Axar Patel is in operation. It’s easy to see why they might be tempted to do so. Axar Patel is pretty much Ravindra Jadeja 2.0 in that both hail from the same state and bring the same skillsets — terrific left-handed batting, vastly underrated left-arm spin and excellent fielding abilities — to the table.

Underrated player

But Axar is a star in his own right, admittedly primarily in white-ball cricket; Jadeja, who also loves flying under the radar, will be the first to rebuff comparisons, well aware that his fellow Gujarati doesn’t need to be buttonholed because he doesn’t perform in anyone else’s shadow.

At 31, Axar is a veteran of international cricket. Sometimes, it’s not hard to overlook the fact that he first represented the country as far back as in June 2014, when he was just 20 years old. By then, Jadeja had established himself in limited-overs play though he was only a year and a half young in Test cricket and had a ways to go before forming one half of a deadly spin duo at home alongside R. Ashwin. Axar has played 168 times for India, 154 of them in 50- and 20-over cricket, but it’s only in the last three years or so that he has finally been bestowed the pre-eminence that his multi-faceted skills deserve.

Ahead of the 2019 50-over World Cup in England, the phrase ‘3D player’ gained traction after India picked Vijay Shankar, the Tamil Nadu quasi-all-rounder, in their 15-man squad ahead of Ambati Rayudu, the Hyderabad middle-order bat who had had a stellar run in the many months leading up to the summer extravaganza in England. M.S.K. Prasad, the chairman of that selection panel, has been trolled mercilessly subsequently while Shankar himself is now practically lost to international cricket. This season, the strapping 34-year-old made the first-class shift to Tripura, perhaps disillusioned with how things are unfolding in his home state.

But we digress. The ‘3D’ — three-dimension — tag sits beautifully on Axar’s broad, battle-hardened but hardly weary shoulders. He is the man for a crisis, but not for a crisis only. Having watched balefully from the sidelines for more than three years in T20Is and nearly five years in ODIs as other, more flamboyant names were preferred, he has been on a mission to make up for lost time, establishing himself as one of the first names on the team sheet at a time when Indian cricket has shown itself to be not averse to wielding the axe on a match-to-match basis.

There is much to admire about how Axar goes about his business. Non-controversial, ready with a smile and one of the genuinely warm individuals going around in world cricket, Axar is immensely aware of his strengths but equally crucially, no ostrich-in-the-sand when it comes to recognising and respecting his own limitations. The understanding of what he can do, which is a lot, and what he can’t, which isn’t a lot, makes him the kind of cricketer every captain would like to have in his limited-overs sides.

Test career on hold

For the time being, Axar’s Test career is on hold. After a sensational debut in February 2021 when his first seven bowls in the five-day game produced five five-wicket hauls, he has slipped dramatically down the pecking order. Axar took 27 wickets in his first three Tests, against England, including 11 for 70 in the pink-ball outing in Ahmedabad, but was underwhelming subsequently; only 23 scalps in his last 20 Test innings and eight in his last 11 bowls has left him on the outer since February 2024. He still continues to feature in Test squads at home but despite the retirement last year of Ashwin, he is a distance away from making a comeback even when India play three spinners in their own backyard.

Jadeja is clearly the leader of the pack, Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist-spin makes him a must at all times (never mind if the team management doesn’t believe so) and Washington Sundar has established himself as a terrific Test match all-rounder which means that, unless one of this trio is injured or India somehow find the opportunity to play four tweakers, Axar will have to continue to bide his time. But in the two limited-overs versions, he is second to none, his versatility allowing him to flourish no matter what the game situation is and when he has been summoned to display his wares.

Onus on flexibility

In the last year or so, and particularly in T20 cricket, India have placed great onus on being flexible when it comes to the batting order, primarily. That means several of the batters have floated through the innings in various games. It can sometimes create confusion and insecurity – and it seems to have done so in some instances – but Axar appears immune to these constant shifts.

Whether he is thrust up the order to arrest a slide or to accelerate, depending on how things have unravelled, or whether he is held back so that he can tee off towards the end, Axar has hardly been found wanting, as a strike-rate of 137.87 in 50 innings will testify. Axar isn’t a slogger; he is a ‘proper’ batter with excellent grasp of the basics, can play strokes all around the wicket even though the leg-side is his preferred choice, and can rotate the strike nicely, all of which make him an alluring package.

But while as commendable as his batting skills are, it is with the ball that he has been even more deadly.

Axar does not bamboozle batters with great drift or ripping turn or dramatic dip. He leaves that to the glamour boys. What he does is constantly attack the stumps. Target the batters’ pads. Cramp them up for room. Use the size of the boundaries to his advantage. Rely on his round-armish action, when needed, to bring the ball into the right-handers. Change up angles, height of release and pace on the ball. He might appear innocuous, but that’s precisely what makes him lethal. Bring him on in the PowerPlay, and he immediately lands the ball on a penny. And he is adept at stemming the flow of runs in the middle stages with his cleverness and intelligence, a wonderful combination that allows him to hold his own even on the flattest of surfaces.

Cementing his place

He is now a near-permanent fixture at No. 5 in the ODI batting line-up, his left-handedness pushing K.L. Rahul down to No. 6, and it’s a position where he has produced several crucial innings, not least in the Champions Trophy in Dubai in February-March. Axar is also a crack fielder — who can forget the sensational catch at deep backward square in the T20 World Cup last year to pack off a marauding Mitchell Marsh, or his direct hit from mid-on to evict Imam-ul-Haq in the Champions Trophy in February? — who can turn matches on a slice of brilliance.

There is no disputing Axar’s place in the 50-over scheme of things, but with the defence of the T20 World Cup looming, it is in the shortest international format that he will be expected to continue his tremendous all-round form. In Gold Coast the other night, Axar was named the Player-of-the-Match in a T20I for the eighth time, a terrific achievement considering that he has only played 83 games.

Among Indians, skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli (16 apiece) and Rohit Sharma (14) alone have more such individual honours, which not only reiterates Axar’s relevance in the larger picture but just how he has quietly imposed himself on the format without the brouhaha and the hype that accompanies many of his more ‘glamorous’ contemporaries.

India have 10 matches at home, five each against South Africa and New Zealand, before they head to their title defence. Axar was the engine room at the last World Cup, though the 24 runs in the final in his final over, most of them to Heinrich Klaasen, threatened at various stages to be the decisive passage of play. Two years back, after being named in the 50-over World Cup 15, Axar had to be replaced at the last minute by Ashwin after picking up a quadriceps strain. This could be his last shot at a World Cup at home, and he will be doubly determined to ensure that that isn’t the only statistic of note. Axar Patel 1.0, he is quite the package, isn’t he?

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