It took Axar Patel a decade to make a name for himself in Indian cricket. The all-rounder has been so much of an understudy to Ravindra Jadeja that ten years since his international debut, he has played all of 14 Tests, 57 ODIs and 60 T20Is. It is only in the last couple of years or so that his batting has begun to garner some attention across all formats. More evidence of that potential came in the recently-concluded T20I World Cup, where he was used as a floater and he always managed to turn up for his team.
In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, Axar opens up about his moniker ‘Nadiad ka Jayasuriya,’ his different batting positions, his bowling speeds in different formats, the comparison between his one-handed stunner against Australia and Suryakumar Yadav’s World Cup winning take in the final and of course how he felt after the Klaasen onslaught.
Excerpts…
Q: What is the story behind Nadiad’s Jayasuriya?
Axar: Growing up I only had one hobby and that was playing cricket. I used to even sleep with my bat and everyone in my society knew about my craze for the game. On the ground close to our society, the seniors used to give me four or five balls to bat, my wickets were never used to get counted. In a few months when I started playing well, leg side became my stronger area. One day I hit a couple of good shots on the leg side and the seniors started calling me Jayasuriya. ‘Tu toh Jayasuriya ban gaya gaya hai (You’ve become Jayasuriya).’ That’s how I got this moniker.
Q: What was the conversation with Rahul Dravid when you walked out to bat at No 4 against Pakistan?
Axar: If I remember correctly, ahead of the Ireland game he told me that if we bat first and we lose a couple of early wickets then he will send me to bat at No 4. Against Ireland, we batted second. In the Pakistan game after the toss only he came to me and told me to be ready if we lost two wickets in the powerplay, I would be sent in at 4.
Led by Virat Kohli and Axar Patel, India recorded the highest score in a T20 World Cup final. (PTI)
Q: What is your mindset when asked to bat up the order and down the order? Does it vary, or just the same?
Axar: Whenever I went out to bat at 4 or 5 in the final, Rahul bhai has given me clear instructions that I don’t need to slog. I must play my game and stick around. My mindset was to score runs. We had batting till No 8, so my aim was to take a calculative risk. I had the belief that if the ball was in my area I would go for my shots. Same strategy, I applied when I came to bat down the order. Actually, IPL helped me a lot to prepare for such a situation. For Delhi Capitals, sometimes I have batted way too early, while in other games I used to get few deliveries to face. Mentally it helped me to be ready to bat at any situation.
Q: What adjustments do you make when bowling across formats, especially with regards to the speed?
Axar: Different format, different speed. In Tests, you have to be more consistent. You have to hit that one spot ball after ball because you have to bowl longer spells. You can’t bowl one poor delivery. In Test matches, I try to bowl slow, and it also depends on how the wicket is reacting, and how much help is there from the surface.
With the white ball, you can bowl to different lengths. I can vary my lengths. One ball I can pitch it on off stump, the next on the middle and leg stump or tad short. In white ball, you have the luxury to experiment because you need to confuse the batsman because he is eager to take chances. Whereas in the red ball, you can’t do it. In first-class or Test matches you wait for batsmen to commit mistakes, while in the ODIs or in the T20Is, you have to attack to take wickets.
Q: Your one-handed stunner against Australia was the catch of the tournament before Suryakumar Yadav took that sensational catch of David Miller in the final. Can you take us through both the catches?
Axar: That catch gave us the World Cup and I am happy with being the second-best.
I was at the mid-wicket and when Miller hit the ball, I thought okay this has gone for six but when Surya completed the catch, everyone asked him ‘Did you touch the rope?’ Even Surya bhai was not sure. ‘First he said Yes I am confident and within a few seconds he said I am not sure. Thoda doubtful lag raha (I am not too sure).’ When we saw the replay, 99 per cent we thought that we had won the World Cup. It was a high-pressure catch and the way he maintained his balance was amazing.
About my catch, I was confident of taking it with both my hands. But it was flying and in the last second I had to time my jump, stretch my one hand and it stuck.
But if I have to pick, any day I would keep Surya bhai’s catch ahead of mine.
Q:You were batting well in the final and then you got out. At the halfway stage did you feel that you guys were 25 runs short?
Axar: I got out at the wrong time. It was my mistake. I was not alert. I was angry with myself. I was hitting the ball well, and also, Virat bhai was also set at the other end. We were planning to accelerate. We could have added more runs for sure. For three overs, I was sitting alone then Bumrah came and gave me a tap on my shoulder and said ‘You have to bowl four overs. You have given us momentum. Let it go now.’
India’s Head Coach Rahul Dravid and team captain Rohit Sharma with players Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah during celebration after India defeated South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final cricket match, at Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados. (AP)
Q: After Klaasen’s onslaught did you feel that you have lost the World Cup for India?
Axar: For the first five seconds Yes, I thought it was over. I was down but I had that intuition that we might turn it around. Rohit bhai came to me and told me ‘match khatam nahi hua hai (Match is not over yet).’ In the bilateral series when you get hit, you immediately let your shoulders down, and your body language shows that you have given up. But in that match, none of us were ready to give up. We wanted to take it to the final ball of the 20th over.
Q: Who was your spin bowling coach or were you inspired by someone?
Axar: No one. Sometimes I still fail to understand how I became a spin bowler. I was a fast bowler, and in U-16 my coach Sanjay Patel in Kheda said there is something wrong with my biomechanics and suggested I should turn to spin. I had zero interest in spin bowling. I was more interested in batting, but I used to get bored while fielding. So just to get those overs quickly, I started bowling spin and started taking wickets as well. When I went to NCA, Venkatapathy Raju sir was there and he had more confidence in my bowling than I ever had. He is the one who has worked on my bowling and made me understand the nuances of spin bowling.
