Axar Patel excited to play the final at home ground

Mumbai: A little over a decade since making his international debut, the unassuming Axar Patel is close to realising a childhood dream — playing an ICC event at his home ground, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Axar was close to achieving that during this T20 World Cup, but India, surprisingly, benched him during the two back-to-back matches they played there last month.

Now, following an impactful performance in the semifinal against England, Axar is all set to play the final at the gigantic venue in front of his family. The 32-year-old, grinning from ear to ear in his interaction with the media, said he can’t wait for the final against New Zealand on Sunday.

“I think that's why I didn't play those two matches (as I had to play the final),” joked Axar. “It is very important for me. I have been waiting for so many years. It is a very proud moment to play a match in front of your family on the home ground. I think after two years, I will be playing at my home ground. And that too, the final of the ICC T20 World Cup. I think my son will also watch my first match live. And that's what I am very proud of.”

Axar pulled off a stunning catch running from cover till deep to dismiss Harry Brook and then charged to his left from deep cover to relay the ball off balance to Shivam Dube, who completed the catch to dismiss Will Jacks. When asked to rate which of the two was memorable, Axar chose Brook's catch. 

“When I took the first catch of Harry Brook, it was a very good catch for me, it was tough. But if you look at the situation and the way the England batsmen were batting, the catch of Will Jacks was very important to break the partnership at that time. If you ask me fielding-wise, Harry Brook’s catch was tougher. And yeah, luckily today, I thought the ball was chasing me,” Axar said with a smile on his face.

The 2023 World Cup final at his home ground turned out to be tragic of epic proportions as Australia hammered the Men in Blue to win the trophy for a record-extending sixth time. When asked if India can wipe away that agony come Sunday, Axar’s tongue-in-cheek reply was “I didn't play that game (the final), now I think the jinx will be broken!”

Cut-off box - Axar excited to play the final at home ground
A little over a decade since making his international debut the unassuming Axar Patel is close to realising a childhood dream — playing an ICC event at his home ground the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Axar was close to achieving that during this T20 World Cup but India surprisingly benched him during the two back-to-back matches they played there last month reports Sidney Kiran from Ahmedabad.
Now following an impactful performance in the semifinal against England Axar is all set to play the final at the gigantic venue in front of his family. The 32-year-old grinning from ear to ear in his interaction with the media said he can’t wait for the final against New Zealand on Sunday.
“I think that’s why I didn’t play those two matches (as I had to play the final)” joked Axar. “It is very important for me. I have been waiting for so many years. It is a very proud moment to play a match in front of your family on the home ground. I think after two years I will be playing at my home ground. And that too the final of the ICC T20 World Cup. I think my son will also watch my first match live. And that’s what I am very proud of.”