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India skipper Rohit Sharma told Axar Patel to do the job for the team in absence of veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Ravindra is being ruled out of the upcoming series against Australia, South Africa, and the T20 World Cup 2022. Notably, Jadeja underwent a knee injury which made him out of the Asia Cup mid-tournament. He also had to go through surgery and is expected to miss competitive cricket for a long period.
Rohit however admitted that Jadeja’s absence is a big hit for the team. Meanwhile, he also said that Axar has a great chance to showcase his talent as he is a like-to-like replacement for the CSK all-rounder.
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Talking about Axar, he played 11 T20Is for India this year and claimed 8 wickets at an economy rate of 8.32. He impressed many with his batting skills on the West Indies tour earlier this year where he played a crucial 64-run* knock off 35 balls to take India over the line.
The Indian captain further brought up that the left-arm spinner has the power to take charge of the bowl in all three phases of the innings which gives the team a big benefit.
The upcoming T20I series against Australia and South Africa will help India find the right mixture for the T20 World Cup. They have not finalized their playing XI yet for the mega ICC event.
Meanwhile, Axar’s batting career has resemblances with Jadeja. Jajeda had a strike rate of 93 and averaged only nine in T20Is till 2018. However, since January 2019, his strike rate has gone up to 140 with the average rising to 45. Axar’s trajectory is such that he also can be characterized like that. He had a strike rate of 125 in T20Is till 2018 but in the last four years it has gone up to 149.
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