Former India opener Aakash Chopra heaped huge praise on left-arm spinner Axar Patel and said his rise has been a heart-rending story. Patel has performed well for India this year in white-ball cricket to make a case for himself in the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup.
He has played 4 ODIs this year in which he claimed five wickets and scored 85 runs including a match-winning half-century against West Indies. While in 10 T20Is he took 8 scalps at an economy rate of 8.69.
In the first ODI match against Zimbabwe, Patel claimed three wickets for 24 runs as India registered an emphatic 10-wicket victory to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chopra suggested that Patel is still in the shadows of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and whenever he is available to play it will get difficult for the former to get a chance in the playing XI.
“The rise of Axar Patel is something that has been a heart-rending (sic) story. He is a cricketer who has come to international level after performing extremely well in the First-Class cricket. He is still in the shadow of Ravindra Jadeja and by the time Jadeja is fit and available to play, Axar would not be getting a chance. But whenever he is getting a chance, he is making the right impression,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
Patel is not included in the Asia Cup squad but will travel with the team as a stand-by player. Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi are picked ahead of him.
The former cricketer further talked about Kuldeep Yadav who returned wicketless on Thursday. Chopra said that the pitch didn’t have much assistance for Kuldeep and he should have changed his tactic a bit to trouble the batters.
“Kuldeep Yadav didn’t get wickets… You expect wickets from him. This pitch doesn’t have help for him. I think he could have bowled a bit faster in air,” Chopra added.
The second match of the ODI series will be played on August 20 at Harare Sports Club, Harare. India will look to get more game time to the players who are part of the Asia Cup squad.
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