IND vs SL | Twitter hails Axar Patel as perfect Jadeja successor after he smacks 12 runs off one ball

01/12/2023

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All-rounders remain cricket's most precious assets, especially someone like Ravindra Jadeja who has been the cornerstone of a highly successful Indian outfit. However, Axar Patel ensured his absence was not felt with another incredible cameo on Thursday, including 12 runs off a single ball.

India produced yet another clinical display in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. At the time of writing, they needed just another 25 runs to win with four wickets and 10 overs still to spare and a valiant KL Rahul not-out on 49 off 91 deliveries. The team had looked in a spot of bother early on in the second innings when they were down to 86/4 but a 75-run partnership between Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul stabilized things. Even so, when the latter departed, the team still required 55 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series but Axar Patel put pretty much all doubts over the result to rest with a fantastic display of hitting.

Facing Chamika Karunaratne in the 37th over, Patel latched onto a full ball on the second delivery by expertly placing a cover drive through the gap for a boundary. The all-rounder was rewarded for his handsome shot with another opportunity to unleash his batting prowess as the third-umpire signalled a no-ball, making the buzzer echo around the ground. Under pressure, Karunaratne followed his mistake up with a wide but more misery was still in the offing for him. The pacer decided to surprise Axar with a steep bouncer but little did he know the in-form batter was all but waiting for it. Patel calmly rocked back on his foot and dispatched the Kookaburra into the crowd with a pull Ricky Ponting would be proud of, thus earning 12 runs in total off a single ball.

The 28-year-old has been in excellent form of late, averaging 38 in ODIs since 2022. In the T20I series against the Lions itself, he put on two extravagant displays of power hitting, including a 65 and 2/24 in the second game. With Ravindra Jadeja having last played five months ago due to an injury, his fellow left-arm spinner from Gujarat has fit into the Indian team like a glove across all formats and was once again the centre of attention amongst the Twitterati.

12 off 1 insane!

pic.twitter.com/BO14ofhskR
— MINI BUS 2022 (@minibus2022) January 12, 2023

How much more?

Axar Patel the 1st one to score 10runs for 1 ball

Double, No,Wide,6
— Ibn Batuta (@das04463067) January 12, 2023

Cementing place

Axar Patel has been absolutely brilliant with bat for India. pic.twitter.com/KIwD0b3aFm
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 12, 2023

Explosive runs

#staraikelungal @StarSportsTamil

Axar patel also like Jadeja

Once upon a time Jadeja also the batting decently and bowling is excellent but since 2018 he make some explosive runs from his bat and take wickets like twister now he is a best all-rounder

That like Axar can evolve
— Jana (@Jana37852) January 12, 2023

Totally an asset

Axar Patel could be an asset for the team if used properly in the future. #INDvSL
— Sherlock (@Engineeroast) January 12, 2023

Good signs

The way Axar Patel is performing, hardik in form India has to geniune allrounder in ODI. That's good sign for team considering 50 over WorldCup coming in 8 months.#INDvsSL
— Amit Khairnar (@amitkhairnar_28) January 12, 2023

Turning it up!

And it's Axar Patel turning it up for India once again 😍💥💙🧿
— SoN! 🦋💫 || Ignore & Fly 😌🥂 (@fanatic_devil16) January 12, 2023

100 times better

The way Axar Patel is playing that is 100 times better than K❤️de ka Rahul. Just passing the time there to keeping his place in the team.
— Akash Trivedi (@akashtrivedi92) January 12, 2023

All formats man