Axar Patel might just be the guy the Indian ODI side desperately needs

The southpaw's heroics with the bat from the other day and recent batting form might open a new perspective to the Indian ODI side.

Picture Credit: BCCI

Axar Patel made his ODI debut back in 2014 but never really became a regular and was consistently in and out of the side. Ravindra Jadeja’s presence has always made it hard for another left-arm spinner to find their place in the limited-overs side be it Krunal or Axar but with an Indian world cup in visible distance from now is there a way these two fit in the puzzle together?

India has tried to fit in Shardul Thakur in the past into the ODI set-up to give them the extra balance in the batting but his limited over numbers with the ball have been let’s say far from satisfactory. Hardik Pandya’s return has made a massive difference to the balance of the ODI side but despite that, there seems to be a lengthy tail and might just hold back the team from playing a different brand of cricket if they aspire to do so.

Hardik returning to close to full fitness (fingers crossed) with the ball provides India with a cushion to probably think of a third spinner to make the fifth and sixth bowling option, especially keeping the venue of the world cup in mind. Ravindra Jadeja has his share of bad days with the ball in limited overs cricket and despite Axar being of the same bowling type they are largely different types of spinners. Axar could be at times a much more defensive bowling option than Ravindra Jadeja who could be put under pressure on batting-friendly tracks.

Axar is coming on the back of his best season with the bat in IPL, striking at around 152 and averaging almost 46. Those are numbers the players tagged ‘finishers’ would dream of in an IPL season. His bowling form off-late has not been the best possible version of him you could say but there is enough there to operate if India are looking at making 20 overs in an ODI game from the trio of Jadeja-Axar-Hardik.

Axar power-hitting base vs pace seems to be as good as it gets, so still at the point of contact. Great extension of the arms and a bat swing as straight as his arm ball wraps the batters in front of the stumps. Here are some images of his hitting base at the point of contact

Doesn’t

.

That

Look Beautiful?

The batting order finishing with Hardik, Jadeja, Axar, Shami, Chahal, and Bumrah does inspire a little bit more confidence than the previous options and even more so if you imagine games happening in a venue like Axar’s very own Ahmedabad. With more than a year to go to the event, might just be a nice time to start trying a combination that India could have arrived by accident.