Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has spoken about head coach Rahul Dravid’s masterstroke that must have surprised many during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa.
In the high-stakes final of the T20 World Cup 2024, Team India got off to a tough start. After losing captain Rohit Sharma (9) and Rishabh Pant (0) in the second over and then Suryakumar Yadav (3) in the fifth over, the Indian cricket team found itself in a precarious situation of 34/3 in 4.3 overs. .
Axar Patel reveals Rahul Dravid’s ‘masterstroke’ in 2024 T20 World Cup final
The situation led Dravid to accept a surprising but strategic call for India. In an unexpected move, Dravid promoted Axar in the batting order, a decision that was not part of the original game plan, sending him ahead of specialist batsmen like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube or even Ravindra Jadeja.
This tactical change not only stabilised India’s innings but also provided the necessary impetus to push ahead against South Africa. This strategic masterstroke by Dravid proved to be a crucial moment in the match as Axar’s quick-hitting helped India recover from their early setbacks and ultimately helped them post a competitive total of 176/7 on the board.
The Gujarat all-rounder justified his promotion and lived up to Dravid’s expectations by playing the crucial knock of 47 runs off 31 balls and adding 72 off 54 for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (76) to lift the Men in Blue from precarious situation in the summit clash against South Africa in Barbados.
Later, Star Sports host Dinesh Karthik asked Patel about the decision behind his promotion over Pandya, Dube and Jadeja, and the all-rounder revealed that even he was surprised by Dravid’s decision as he had not anticipated bat highest in the order in the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
I didn’t even have a chance to think: Axar Patel
Axar Patel told Dinesh Karthik on Star Sports: “I thought I was going to drop down the order. But when we lost three wickets early on, suddenly Rahul Bhai told me, ‘Axar, put your pads on.’ I didn’t even get a chance to think about my batting, so that worked for me.”
Notably, Patel has been impressive with the bat in the IPL over the last few seasons with the Delhi Capitals, scoring 235, 283 and 182 runs in the last three seasons, and that is why he was promoted to the batting order in the final and he repaid the faith shown by Dravid in style.
The star all-rounder was one of the key players for India in their successful T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. He took nine wickets and scored 92 runs in eight innings in the tournament. After winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, Patel said that he felt really proud to be able to contribute to India’s success.
Axar added: “This time I felt I had to do something good for India. I finally did it. I feel very proud.”
