CHENNAI: On Sunday evening, India were in the process of dismantling Sri Lanka yet again, this time in Dambulla. The monotony of this pinata-bashing template that the former seem to have perfected over the last month or so was summed up adequately by Twitter on the day: #TNPLFinal kept bobbing above #INDvSL every now and then.
As Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli went about performing the last rites for the island nation for the nth time, another man in their Playing XI had all but the intention of making a routine day in office count, be it filled with tedium or not. In his ten overs, Axar Patel paved yet another cobbled stretch for what can perhaps be construed as a road towards permanence in the national scheme of things.
The left-arm spinner’s discipline and accuracy earned him three wickets while giving away only 34 runs, the most economical figures for the day. Not to mention his scalping of Kusal Mendis — who is one among the few sparks of willow-wielding resilience for the hosts — which set into motion Sri Lanka’s six-wicket, 37-run tumble from 150/2 in 27 overs. That Axar has the capability to make opportunities count doesn’t need extensive corroboration. His maiden call-up to the Test contingent in place of Ravindra Jadeja for Pallekele, for starters, is quite a token of faith from the Indian think-tank for the 23-year-old.
Also, Axar isn’t a stranger to the international arena, when taking into consideration his previous 30 ODIs and seven T20Is. His last one-dayer came against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam last October, where an 18-ball-24 and 2/9 in 4.1 overs contributed towards India clinching that series 3-2.
A glance at his recent career exploits is more than adequate. During India A’s tour of South Africa last month, Axar took seven wickets at an economy of 4.11. During this year’s IPL, he notched up 227 runs for Kings XI Punjab, at an average and strike-rate of 28.37 and 140.12. With the ball, he scalped 15 wickets, his team’s second-best. “He is an asset to any team that he’s in,” said Gujarat (Axar’s state in the domestic circuit) coach. “The fact that he got called up after Jadeja’s unavailability too speaks for itself. He’s also got age on his side too.”
rahulravi@newindianexpress.com