Star India all-rounder Axar Patel has been named vice-captain of India and he is prepared for a bigger role. Having proven himself as a match-winner and with age on his side, the team management also considered him a key figure. However, as of now, he is focusing on how best he can deliver in the opportunities he gets as well.

“Yes, the transition is coming and obviously, it will be the call of the selectors and the captain. At the end of the day, I don’t want to prove anything to anyone,” he said ahead of India’s five-match T20I series against England. “I have played in all three formats. Whether it is T20, ODI or Test matches. So, I tell myself that I have to do well in the opportunities I get. If there is a transition and if I am given a role, I will focus on that, on what I have to do. I keep asking myself how to make myself better when I am batting or bowling, and if I keep performing I will automatically make my place.”
“Obviously, it’s been a day, so we have discussed that there is an extra responsibility on me in the leadership group,” Axar said of his appointment as the vice-captain of the team. “Our T20 team is settled, so there is not much pressure. But obviously, there are small decisions in the game. I will be working with Surya, so if some input is needed at any time around what we can do and what we can’t, that’s the kind of conversation I have had. And when you come into the leadership group, obviously, you have to make some harsh decisions. If we have genuine opinions and trust in each other, it will be easy.”
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However, Axar Patel wasn’t picked for the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia despite having played a key role for India in last time as well. But he said that he isn’t losing sleep on why he didn’t get selected and prefers to focus on areas he can control as well.
“I don’t want to take the pressure of being selected or not,” Axar Patel said. “I don’t want to decide whether I deserve it or not. Obviously, that team combination is very important. Whether there is space in the team or not. Whether the team combination is right or not. So, I don’t think much about all that. I think about how I can contribute to the team, what I can do if I am in the team; if I am playing, how can I contribute, and if I am not playing, how can I contribute. So, I think about that. And if it is about selection or the Australia series, I want to think about where I tend to get more opportunities. I don’t think I deserve it or not. Obviously, that is part of the journey of cricket because I think there are 15 players in the team. You can’t say that my place is fixed. I don’t think like that.”

While focusing on maximizing his own chances, Axar Patel hasn’t overlooked his vision for the team as well. His shared captain Suryakumar Yadav, backed for flexibility in the batting order and giving players the freedom to express themselves as well. In fact, he hopes for the team to pick up from where they left off in South Africa.
“The target is that we can play as well as we can in the matches we get. And when the World Cup comes after a year, what can we try before that, what should we play like, what should we not play like, what should we approach like. So, the target is that whatever we want to do, we should try from now on,” Axar said. “And momentum is obviously a big thing whenever you want to play cricket. We want to start well and carry the momentum that we had in the last series in 2024.”
He again shared, “But that said, what has happened has happened but we have discussed how we can take confidence from that, what were the positive things we did and what can we do in the future. We will take all that and move forward. And what has happened will not come back. But what we have done and why we have got success, we will talk about that and move forward.”
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Axar Patel also said that Team India will continue to be flexible with the batters apart from the openers, an approach that has brought them some success in recent times, including in their 3-1 series win in South Africa as well.
“See, batting-wise, it is not particularly happening with me. I think in 2023-2024, it was said that the openers are fixed. After that, I think from 3rd to 7th, everyone has been told that you can go in any situation,” Axar Patel explained. “So, it is not that only this batsman will go [at this position]. It depends on the combination, which bowler is difficult for which batsman, so according to that, we have spoken about using batters as floaters at any time. And if needed, you can go up the order, and if not, then obviously you will be doing the finishing job.”
“So, it is the same this time too. There is no such fixed position. And not just for me, I think it is the same for everyone. Depends on what kind of day a particular batter is having, what we saw when they were practising in nets; that this batsman can play well here, so according to that, it [batting order] can be adjusted. And the T20 game is also such that when you use a particular batsman, it is very important. So that’s the role everyone has to play,” Axar Patel concluded.
The first T20I match between India and England will take place at the Eden Gardens on January 22.