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Axar Patel officially ruled out of SA T20Is as BCCI gives surprise call-up to ex-RCB all-rounder

Soumyajit Dutta

Axar Patel and Shahbaz Ahmed [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]Axar Patel and Shahbaz Ahmed [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]

After reports swelled over Axar Patel's unavailability for the remainder of the South Africa T20I series, the BCCI released an official notification on the exit of the all-rounder. Axar Patel has been officially ruled out of the remaining two T20Is against South Africa due to illness.

The BCCI further clarified that he will be staying with the team in Lucknow, where he will be medically assessed further. Notably, the nature of the illness has not been disclosed; however, the BCCI decided to opt for a replacement in the squad with Shahbaz Ahmed.

Shahbaz Ahmed gets called up as like-for-like Axar Patel replacement

Axar Patel's absence was marked in the third T20I at Dharamshala as well, as he did not appear for the game. However, the BCCI's call to rest him for the remainder of the series created an all-rounder gap in the squad, which will be filled by 31-year-old Shahbaz Ahmed.

“Team India allrounder, Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remaining two IDFC First Bank T20Is against South Africa due to illness. However, he is with the team in Lucknow, where he will be further medically assessed. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Shahbaz Ahmed as his replacement for the T20Is in Lucknow and Ahmedabad,” the BCCI wrote in the release.

India’s updated squad for last two T20Is

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed

Shahbaz is a like-for-like replacement for Axar Patel, who bowls slow left-arm orthodox and is a southpaw as well. The Mewat-born all-rounder is currently playing for Bengal in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, where he showed decent form by scalping wickets.

He earned his ODI cap for India back in 2022 against the Proteas at Ranchi. He also featured in two T20I matches for India but wasn't able to make a significant impact.

Nevertheless, the all-rounder boasts 2,192 first-class runs and 1,355 T20 runs with the bat. With the ball, Shahbaz boasts 73 wickets in T20 cricket and also has three wickets in ODIs and two wickets in the T20I format.