India registered a stunning a seven-run victory against South Africa and clinched the T20 World Cup 2024 title. With this win, India ended their 11-year-old ICC trophy drought. However, the final match was full of ups and downs, where Team India eventually emerged victorious. Opting to bat first, India had a horrendous start to the innings as they lost three quick wickets with only 34 runs on the board. Later, Virat Kohli and Axar Patel stitched an important 62-run partnership and helped Team India reach a defendable total.
Kohli, who battled through his lean patch, scored 76 off 59 balls and even bagged the Player of the Match award for his knock. However, the vital contribution of Axar got overlooked by many.
The 30-year-old all-rounder, who usually batted lower-down the order, was sent at No 5 in the final match. This decision proved to be fruitful as he smashed 47 off 31 balls.
Recently, on being asked about batting at No 5 by former India batter Dinesh Karthik, Axar revealed that it was head coach Rahul Dravid‘s decision to promote him up the order.
“Not today (on whether he was expecting to bat up the order). I thought I would be going down the order. But when we lost three wickets early, suddenly Rahul bhai told me, ‘Axar, pad up.’ I did not even get the chance to think about my batting, so that worked for me,” Axar told Star Sports.
This match was Dravid’s last assignment as the head coach as it brought an end to his tenure.
The hunt for the next Indian cricket team head coach is already underway with former India batter Gautam Gambhir emerging as the frontrunner. While nothing has been confirmed officially, media reports suggest that he is most likely to take charge of the national side after Dravid’s departure.
“I tried to persuade him to stay, but there are obviously various factors he needs to consider. Nevertheless, I cherished the time spent with him,” Rohit Sharma earlier said on Dravid’s exit.
“He was my first international captain when I entered the scene in Ireland. I also witnessed his captaincy during my early Test matches. He’s been a significant role model for us,” Rohit added.
Axar Patel, who usually batted lower-down the order, was sent at No 5 in the final match.
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