Occasionally, Rishabh Pant would be heard shouting from behind the stumps, “Jayasurya, left mei ja”, referring to Axar Patel. It was his childhood nickname, earned for his efforts at flood-lit tennis-ball cricket in Nadiad, 60 kilometers from Ahmedabad.
Averse to bowling in his formative years, he played for India for his left-arm spin. He saw a huge step towards achieving his childhood goal. Coincidentally, Aksar was the last non-essential member of the 15-man squad. Because the selectors fought over who to pick between him and Washington Sundar, but in the end they made the right call hoping Axar would do well.
But doing that in the World Cup finals, with big names Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav back in the squad, is a different matter altogether. Back to Kagiso Rabada, one of the world’s greatest fast bowlers, it’s not uncommon to smash a length ball behind the sight screen as he did in the 14th over – Axar Patel will hold his pose and soak up the moment. India have faced counter-attacking power at World Cups in the past – Aravinda de Silva’s complete game in the 1996 semi-final comes to mind, and it would have been a delight for the fans to see someone give them a leg up this time.
The game swung dramatically in South Africa’s favor when he stepped forward from his usual spot ahead of Shivam Dube. Virat Kohli started like a runaway express in the middle. But now Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav are missing and have to stand up and play like anchors.
Axar Patel of India bowls during the second semi-final cricket match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup between England and India at the Guyana National Stadium in Guyana. Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana (AP | PTI)
Not everyone would have been surprised by what happened next. An assistant coach at Delhi Capitals in 2021 saw Mohammad Kaif and Ricky Ponting help Aksar correct his then only shortcoming – his leg-side strokeplay, which has always been in favour.
“He was very proper, calm and never got emotional whether he was batting or bowling. In a crisis, those who play as if there is no crisis, do well. It allows us to be confident in our ability,” Kaif told the newspaper.
Aksar calmly took the first delivery he faced, sending it to square leg with a neat clip on the pads from Rabada. Then, he faced three balls in the last ball of the powerplay, which Aiden Markram calmly and efficiently bowled for 6 runs. But Aksar didn’t let him go again when Markram bowled the 8th over. Axar hit a slow-swept six – the shot that announced his and India’s intent: Kohli played anchor and settled and Axar played the damage in action.
In the next over against South Africa’s World Cup star Keshav Maharaj, he hit another slow sweep into the cow corner stand. Markram scrambles and bowls his next off-spinner, Chinaman Shamsi. No luck, Axar goes down and hits a six. Soon after, he had a stunning moment against Rabada in the World Cup final with that stunning six.
“Like Jayasuriya, he hits the ball very hard. “Pura Jayasurya Ke Tara (Like Jayasuriya)”. Everyone wanted him to play for their team. But as he was selected for the district and later Gujarat age-group teams, he realized he had to give up tennis-ball cricket,” Akshar’s relative told the newspaper.
Aksar is self-aware whether it is batting or bowling. His Test average and his batting continued to improve. He also continues to work on his batting. At the 2021 IPL in Dubai, he worked very hard with coach Ricky Ponting to fine-tune one part of his game: his leg-side game.
“I remember telling him that Jadeja has shown the way. How Jadeja went to the next level after the 2018 England tour. Axar wanted to take his batting to the next level.”
Team India led by Virat Kohli and Axar Patel posted the highest score in the T20 World Cup final. (PTI)
However, he had one weakness – his leg-side game was targeted by IPL bowlers. “They would bowl towards his body and he would catch the ball on the leg side. Better, he looked for those balls to hit singles on the leg side. That full range is not there,” said Kaif.
“The front shoulder was a touch tight,” Kaif said. “Bonting felt he needed to open up the front shoulder a touch to open up his leg-side game, to make it more fluid. Face mid-on more than being completely cut off by being too lateral. Hours of practice continued.” , even hitting Bumrah for sixes on the onside in that IPL over became a natural part of him.”
It wasn’t a perfect day as Heinrich Klaasen dropped him for 24 in an over to tilt South Africa’s momentum, but his team-mates did the job to ensure his batting efforts were not wasted.
His mother and grandmother opposed his playing cricket when he was a boy. But Aksar was persistent and quickly rose through the ranks. Now, top-ranked, self-made cricketer Akshar Patel has lived up to that childhood moniker: “Nadiat ka Jayasuriya.”
