He started his career with six to eight over matches in Gujarat.
Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel were reminiscing their childhood memories after they finished bowling in Nagpur where they started their careers with tennis ball matches of six to eight overs. Akshar told Bumrah that this eight-over match reminded him of his childhood. Axar said, “Full feeling. Here the atmosphere of the death overs from the very first ball and the batsman keeps on running the bat regardless of the wicket.”
Adding the Pandya brothers to this list, you would have four contemporary players who took the unconventional route. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Gujaratis love the game of cricket along with being practical. For a long time only the people of the royal family were associated with this sport. Common Gujarati people got into cricket only when parents could see a bright future for their children.
It started with local tournaments where there was good prize money and talented players could earn some money. When love and passion for sports met, not only Ahmedabad and Jamnagar but the whole of Gujarat became a strong party. For most of the Gujarati cricketers, this hard-hitting tennis ball match means a lot.
The duration of the match does not matter to the letter. He has a knack for bowling in the powerplays and this short match was no different. It can be a bit complicated to an outsider, but according to the letter, the game is very simple: stay within the stumps, keep the ball away from the batsman and don’t get discouraged when a good ball hits a boundary.
In the second T20I, Axar made his powerplay debut at long on and deep midwicket to the boundary line. Immediately the batsmen moved to the leg side and tried to hit the shot with spin. However, Akshar did not allow him to do so by bowling either an arm ball or a cross seam ball. His control over the length was excellent as always.
In his second and final over, Axar bowled four consecutive dot deliveries to left-handed batsman Matthew Wade. Wade stirs the crease, takes both sweeps but Axar doesn’t miss his line and length.
Akshar conceded only 13 runs in this match after bowling an over in the powerplay. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Superstats, he only spent 3.42 smart runs. In terms of impact, Adam Zampa overtook Axar with an extra wicket but Axar’s spell made the match for India.