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Axar Patel (Source: X)
Axar Patel is the unsung hero of India who not only bowled during complicated situations but also batted exceptionally well during crunch situations. Starting from the first match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 till the last game, his contributions have been quite effective. During an interview, Axar Patel gave the entire credit to coach Rahul Dravid for sending him up the order while he wasn't even aware of it.
"Not today (on whether he was expecting to bat up the order). I thought I would be going down the order. But when we lost three wickets early, suddenly Rahul bhai told me, 'Axar, pad up.' I did not even get the chance to think about my batting so that worked for me," said Axar Patel on Star Sports.
India won the finals against South Africa by seven runs, while the Proteas couldn't chase 30 runs off 30 balls. The match was phenomenal, as India scored 176 runs in the first innings. The Proteas batters were almost on the verge of chasing the score but failed to because of rugged bowling by Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Arshdeep Singh.
Captaincy will be decided by the selectors: Jay Shah
After the World Cup 2024 came to an end, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement. With that, the selectors will have to now look for a new captain who can be the successor of Rohit in the T20Is. Hardik Pandya is already in his prime form and was Rohit's deputy at the World Cup. Moreover, Hardik's captaincy record in T20Is and the IPL is quite strong. Hence, the selectors can choose him as the future captain of the T20Is.
"Captaincy will be decided by the selectors and we will announce it after discussing it with them. You asked about Hardik, there were a lot of questions over his form but we and the selectors showed faith in him and he proved himself," said Jay Shah.
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