3 Reasons Why India Will Miss Axar Patel In World Cup 2023

image-ln4gifloAxar Patel has missed out of WC due to injury (X.com)

The stage is set for what is expected to be a cracking World Cup in the home of the new superpower of cricket, India. The home team, led by Rohit Sharma are one of the favourites to lift the trophy after 12 long years, and with dominating performances in the recently held Asia Cup and Australia series, the expectations are pretty high from the Indian team.

However, Axar Patel, has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an injury he suffered in the Asia Cup encounter against Bangladesh. Ravi Ashwin has replaced him but the off-spinner is a different cricketer compared to Axar Patel, and India might miss the dynamic nature of Axar Patel - the all-rounder. Here are the three reasons why India will miss Axar Patel in World Cup 2023.


Axar Patel - The batter with power element.

Axar Patel is a genuine all-rounder and has the ability to win games both with bat and ball. However, it is his batting abilities that will be missed more than anything else. He has been in great form with the bat across formats in recent times. He has the power-hitting aspect to his batting as well which is crucial when one bats at number 7 or number 8 in ODIs.

image-ln4g799uAxar Patel power-hitting will be missed (AP Photos)

Also, if Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel both play together, Axar could have been used as a floater if needed to accelerate in the middle overs. Also, his presence would added more depth to the batting line-up allowing the top-order batters to play more freely.

Like-to-Like Replacement For Ravindra Jadeja

Axar Patel is a perfect like to like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja and it would have been great to have him as a backup in case of an injury to Jadeja. Jadeja is also not in great form and Axar Patel could have been an ideal replacement for him in the XI. 

image-ln4g94ycAxar Patel was like-to-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja (X.com)

Ashwin, on the other hand, is a quality bowler and is a decent batter as well but his power-hitting is questionable and batting him at number 7, could be too high for him in white-ball cricket especially in big tournament like World Cup.

Axar Patel - The  Gun-fielder

Axar Patel is also a live wire on the field. He is brilliant both as a close-in fielder and as an outfielder as well and could have been a perfect 12th man for India even he would have not been in the playing XI. These small things are crucial in a crunch game and two or three runs saved here and there, can make whole lot of difference.

image-ln4gf672Axar Patel is a gun-player (X.com)

Ashwin as compared to Axar Patel is a slow-mover on the field and Axar Patel, the fielder would be surely missed in the World Cup.

So, these are the three premier reasons why Axar Patel will be missed in the World Cup but Ashwin is a quality player as well and his experience can be handy in crunch situations.