Right tempo, skidding on, bowling on a spot: Axar’s smarts

“Is baar mauka haath se jaane nahi doonga,” ( I received’t let this chance go). Chintan Gaja. Gujarat Ranji participant, remembers Axar Patel’s promise simply earlier than England collection when information got here in that Ravindra Jadeja received’t be accessible for all 4 Tests. He actually has saved his promise; a five-for in Chennai, and now a six-for on the first-day observe at his metropolis.
There is a curious factor he does with the ball. Most left-arm spinners’ variations will be picked by the seam place. With inventory ball, it tends to level in direction of slips, with the armer, it will get straighter. Occasionally, all of them use the scrambled seam to see if the ball lands on the shiny facet and skids on. However, Axar makes use of the scrambled seam higher than most different left-armers. He can get it to spin away viciously if the pitch helps, as he bought it a number of instances early on in his spell to seed doubts. He then makes use of virtually an identical grip however presses the center finger more durable on the ball at launch to get it to go straighter. It’s not straightforward to select in any respect as England came upon; batsmen after batsmen groped ahead blindly and have been hoping it will be the one which was turning away. Mistake. It could be the ram-rod straight armer that might nail them on the pad.
As a lot as the assistance from the pitch, it was his cricketing smarts that stood out. The proper tempo (hovering in late 80 kph), using the additional lacquer on the pink ball or “glare” as he calls it to get the ball to skid on, the liberal sprinkling of the arm-ball on a turner, using the under-cutter because the ball bought older to get it to skid extra, the sensible use of the side-arm motion to confuse the batsmen additional, and the acute self-discipline to not stray from what’s working.
As the day wrapped up, when the commentator Murali Kartik requested him when he would present his variations within the match, Axar quipped with a beautiful smile, “I don’t think there is no need to show those variations. Uske bina hi kaam chal raha hai (it’s working without it).”

Dreams do come true 🇮🇳 #grateful @GCAMotera @BCCI pic.twitter.com/WQ1PEO23TC
— Akshar Patel (@akshar2026) February 24, 2021
Priyank Panchal, Gujarat’s captain, explains that it’s his motion that helps him to get his deliveries to skid after touchdown which makes him typically a harmful bowler to deal with. “His bowling speed is not like the ones of the general spinner. He bowls at a consistent pace and his deliveries skids after pitching which is more dangerous to handle,” Panchal advised this newspaper.
Gaja stresses the accuracy trait. “He can bowl for hours at one spot. He is too confident when it comes to his accuracy. He can get his spot even with closed eyes, such has been his accuracy. During junior days he used to bowl with the new ball and still got his line right,” Gaja says. When IPL was winding down, Axar hoped to board a flight to Australia, Gaja says, as he felt the board could be taking a jumbo squad because of pandemic. He needed to anticipate his likelihood which got here with Jadeja’s harm and that’s when he promised Gaja.
Axar Patel — the household’s hero, actually
Axar is aware of the right way to maintain guarantees, not simply with team-mates however along with his father too. The final want of his beloved grandmother, who couldn’t get her dream of watching him stay on tv, was about his profession. “She advised my father, ‘I want to see Axar on television. I want to see him in a blue jersey,” Patel tells the YouTube channel Cricket Originals. “I was just 18 when she died. That day my dad told me, ‘can you wear the Indian jersey one day?’ That’s the day I began to take my recreation significantly.”
“Is baar mauka haath se jaane nahi doonga,” ( I received’t let this chance go). Chintan Gaja. Gujarat Ranji participant, remembers Axar Patel’s promise simply earlier than England collection when information got here in that Ravindra Jadeja received’t be accessible for all 4 Tests. He actually has saved his promise; a five-for in Chennai, and now a six-for on the first-day observe at his metropolis.
There is a curious factor he does with the ball. Most left-arm spinners’ variations will be picked by the seam place. With inventory ball, it tends to level in direction of slips, with the armer, it will get straighter. Occasionally, all of them use the scrambled seam to see if the ball lands on the shiny facet and skids on. However, Axar makes use of the scrambled seam higher than most different left-armers. He can get it to spin away viciously if the pitch helps, as he bought it a number of instances early on in his spell to seed doubts. He then makes use of virtually an identical grip however presses the center finger more durable on the ball at launch to get it to go straighter. It’s not straightforward to select in any respect as England came upon; batsmen after batsmen groped ahead blindly and have been hoping it will be the one which was turning away. Mistake. It could be the ram-rod straight armer that might nail them on the pad.

A five-wicket haul in his debut Test ✅A five-wicket haul in his second Test ✅
Axar Patel 👏 pic.twitter.com/p88tgQzHx9
— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2021
As a lot as the assistance from the pitch, it was his cricketing smarts that stood out. The proper tempo (hovering in late 80 kph), using the additional lacquer on the pink ball or “glare” as he calls it to get the ball to skid on, the liberal sprinkling of the arm-ball on a turner, using the under-cutter because the ball bought older to get it to skid extra, the sensible use of the side-arm motion to confuse the batsmen additional, and the acute self-discipline to not stray from what’s working.
As the day wrapped up, when the commentator Murali Kartik requested him when he would present his variations within the match, Axar quipped with a beautiful smile, “I don’t think there is no need to show those variations. Uske bina hi kaam chal raha hai (it’s working without it).”
Priyank Panchal, Gujarat’s captain, explains that it’s his motion that helps him to get his deliveries to skid after touchdown which makes him typically a harmful bowler to deal with. “His bowling speed is not like the ones of the general spinner. He bowls at a consistent pace and his deliveries skids after pitching which is more dangerous to handle,” Panchal advised this newspaper.

Fourth wicket for Axar Patel!
England are 93/7 😯#INDvENG ➡️ https://t.co/0unCGUOHmI pic.twitter.com/OjpSZQ0Avo
— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2021
Gaja stresses the accuracy trait. “He can bowl for hours at one spot. He is too confident when it comes to his accuracy. He can get his spot even with closed eyes, such has been his accuracy. During junior days he used to bowl with the new ball and still got his line right,” Gaja says. When IPL was winding down, Axar hoped to board a flight to Australia, Gaja says, as he felt the board could be taking a jumbo squad because of pandemic. He needed to anticipate his likelihood which got here with Jadeja’s harm and that’s when he promised Gaja.
Axar is aware of the right way to maintain guarantees, not simply with team-mates however along with his father too. The final want of his beloved grandmother, who couldn’t get her dream of watching him stay on tv, was about his profession. “She advised my father, ‘I want to see Axar on television. I want to see him in a blue jersey,” Patel tells the YouTube channel Cricket Originals. “I was just 18 when she died. That day my dad told me, ‘can you wear the Indian jersey one day?’ That’s the day I began to take my recreation significantly.”
When his father made a miraculous restoration after a critical accident that broken his head, Axar despatched him to the US to family members as a part of the restoration course of. There, the daddy fell in love with a canine and would always speak about it within the calls again residence. Axar, who was afraid of canine till then, was moved sufficient to get a Maltese pet residence for his father. And he named it, ‘Gucci Patel’.
Just because the press convention was about to start out after his six-for, somebody talked about his canine’s identify, and Axar went, “Yeh mere kuthe ka naam kaun liya?!” and a beautiful smile unfold on his face. Six-for, love for his canine, a contented household – Patel’s time out on the world’s largest stadium was full.