Triple-threat Axar: The unsung hero of India's T20 World Series triumph

At the Twenty20 World League this year, India, though not at their imposing best, edged out South Africa to claim the 2024 title. Most of their stars, the Virat Kohlis, the Jasprit Bumrahs, the Rohit Sharma, made the right noises: did well in patches and contributed in bits. Everyone noticed, but only till a point. Come to think of it, most of what happens in the game goes mostly unnoticed. Only some things, such as a big wicket or a titanic boundary, warrant our attention. And here’s the biggest revelation of the tournament: seven out of 10 of the top run-scorers were wild cards. No superstars among them. But one player did feature prominently in most of the contests throughout the tournament: he didn’t score the most runs. Come to think of it, none of the above is actually important. Those that know their numbers and patterns of play, know that. This is merely trivial. Our big winners are what most of the entertainment press chooses to focus on. Yet we all know, don’t we, that most of the large books that fall into our hands are hollow adventures with recycled plots and thinly sketched characters. And that much of what appears on our small screen is brain-dead drivel leading nowhere. It’s the same kind of work that produced a loss of several billion rupees in digital currency NFTs (non-fungible tokens), a quick way to lose money fast. Up for sale before anyone understands its value: Kerala folk art, the Mona Lisa, Lord Ganesha’s trunk or a dance sequence choreographed by Helen who danced in the movie Kaala Patthar. Is anything they spend the loose change on any better?

Giving him a floater’s role in the batting order, Indian officials brought him up to No 4, a decision that proved critical to this game. Abbreviating the letter from the sage-like Shiv Madube on his list meant that the Indian bureaucrats stretched out the batting order a piece, blunting the effectiveness of the able South African spinner Keshav Maharaj a smidge.

Axar’s knock was a clinic in high-pressure batting. He was perfect in the slog-sweep game, sweeping sixes off Aiden Markram and Maharaj, who he had starved for runs of late. His 47 came off 31 balls, and proved just what India needed to take the penultimate mountain. It was because of him that Virat Kohli got the opportunity to sit like a great batsmen, someone worthy of being called an anchor, with the knowledge that whoever was defending 176.

But what he did with the bat was very different to anything he did with the ball, which he never stopped doing during those longest Test days in the seaming enclosure that was the Guyana arena. Bowling 3/23 against England in the semifinal, Axar continually diagnosed what the situation required and adapted it to his terms.

In a tournament where individual brilliance was the order of the day, Axar Patel emerged as the quintessential team player, the unsung hero whose contributions often went under the radar. His ability to impact the game in all three facets - batting, bowling, and fielding - made him an invaluable asset to India's triumphant campaign.

As Axar himself eloquently stated after the final, "This time, I felt that I had to do something good for India. Finally, I did it. I'm feeling so proud." His performance in the 2024 World T20 League will undoubtedly cement his reputation as a true triple-threat, a player whose value transcends mere statistics and shines through in the intangible ways he helps his team succeed.