Former India player Aakash Chopra has praised Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya for their crucial contributions in the Indian team’s 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final win against Australia. He added that the 2023 ODI World Cup final result might have been different had the two all-rounders been part of India’s playing XI as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Since we are stuck on 19 November, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel, we missed the two Gujju boys. I remember I had tweeted that day that I would miss them when we lift the trophy. That tweet did not age very well. We lost, but today we realized again who we missed. If they had been there, things would have been different because they are doing their job.”

“Bapu does the job with the ball. He dismisses the dangerous Glenn Maxwell. Although Glenn Maxwell’s wicket isn’t talked about that much, Alex Carey’s run out will be talked about more, but Glenn Maxwell could have taken them close to 300. He has got the ability, but he hit a six and then out,” he again shared.

However, Aakash Chopra also stated that Axar Patel and Virat Kohli (84 off 98) added together an important partnership after Shreyas Iyer’s (45 off 62) dismissal in the 2025 Champions Trophy semi-final as well.

“In batting, things could have gone wrong if two wickets had fallen quickly. If Axar had gotten out immediately after Shreyas Iyer, the pressure would have suddenly looked different. He didn’t get out. He takes on the bowlers. Whenever crucial runs are required, he does that every single time. We missed Bapu that day,” he said.

“Hardik Pandya bowled very well to Travis Head at the start and then came in the end to pick up a wicket. When Hardik Pandya was batting, I was urging him to finish the game early and asking him why he was increasing our blood pressure. He hit four (three) sixes. When everyone was questioning him why he was playing dot balls, he said he knows what he is doing,” Aakash Chopra concluded.