Axar Patel reveals his biggest secret behind playing for Team India

Axar Patel was one of Delhi Capitals’ (DC) four retentions ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega-auction. The 28-year-old all-rounder has made a name for himself by performing consistently in recent years for both club and country. Recently, he was seen having a chat with Gaurav Kapur on a show called ‘Breakfast with Champions’ on Youtube.

In that conversation, Axar explained how he transformed into a serious cricketer from a person who only played the game for love. The DC star said it was his late grandmother’s wish, that helped him to become a much-improved and serious player.

“That focus came through my grandmother. I was her favourite because I was the youngest in our family. When I’d go to play matches, my grandmother would always ask, ‘will you come on TV?’ Then my dad would explain to her that only when I play for India, it will happen. She’d say, ‘tell me when he appears on TV, I’ll watch,” Axar recalled at ‘Breakfast with Champions’.

“I continued playing for Under-16, the state team, but only played for fun back then. A match between Kheda and Gandhinagar was on, and I had gone to Gandhinagar, and during that time, she passed due to a heart attack. I could not even attend her funeral.”

Then, Axar came to the point by mentioning how his father, for the first time, requested him to fulfil her late grandmother’s wish.

“Until then I reached home, my father hadn’t cried. He hugged me and cried then, and said, ‘I’ve never asked anything from you and never will ask anything. But my mother’s last wish was to see you on TV.’ That night I was by myself and decided to get serious. Cricket was always my passion but it then became my focus,” he added.

Axar made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014. A year later, his T20I debut came against Zimbabwe. Then in 2021, he made his Test debut in England and has been a star performer with the ball in red-ball cricket at home. He has already taken 39 Test wickets in six matches at an average of 12.43.