With almost a month passed since India’s second T20 World Cup title win during the final of the 2024 tournament against South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, different stories have started to come during the period. This time, their bowling coach Paras Mhambrey opened up about what he discussed with Axar Patel during the final game.
India started quite brilliantly during the game against the Proteas as they went off to a flying start in the opening over of Marco Jansen, as Virat Kohli nailed back-to-back boundaries before the Aiden Markram-led side made a great comeback in the powerplay.
Keshav Maharaj sent back Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, while Suryakumar Yadav had no answer to the short ball of Kagiso Rabada. At that struggling situation of 34/3 in the fifth over, the management sent Axar Patel at number five.
Former Indian bowling coach spoke about Axar Patel’s bowling in T20 World Cup final
It wasn’t the first time he had done the job of rescuing the team, having taken the same responsibility of the batting department during their game against Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium earlier in the event.
Also Read: England Ditches India On Their Stance On ICC Champions Trophy 2025 In Pakistan
Axar Patel smashed a 47-run knock in 31 balls, with the help of four over-boundaries and one boundary with a strike rate of 151.61, and put up a vital partnership of 72 runs for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli, to carry their team to 176/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
South Africa kept themselves in the chase for a long time, with their batters continuing to smash the big shots around the park. The aggressive middle order batter of the side- Heinrich Klassen smoked a 52-run knock in 27 balls at a strike rate of nearly 200, to put up a 45-run stand with David Miller in just 22 deliveries.
None of the spinners had a comfortable afternoon in the middle with the ball in hand, as Axar Patel was torn away for figures of 1/49 in his four overs, at an economy of 12.25.
The former bowling coach of the Indian team looked back at the winning moment when they could slowly feel the emotions coming out during the final.
‘When David Miller got out (in the last over), there was a relief in the dressing room. All the stress, all the pressure got out, and you felt empty.’ Mhambrey expressed to News18 in an interaction. ‘You felt the emotions. It took a while to realize that we were world champions.’
The veteran felt that the way Klassen was batting, it wasn’t Axar Patel’s fault that he was smacked for those many runs during his four overs.
Also Read: Can Hardik Pandya Mark His Return In Tests? India’s T20 World Cup Winning Coach Reveals
‘He (Heinrich Klassen) was comfortable with his ability to play against both spin and fast equally. If you look at the over of Axar Patel, at no point you could think he was bowling badly. Whatever he bowled was smashed around the ground. You just hope the batter would do mistake in these situations.’ Mhambrey revealed.
Axar Patel scored 92 runs at a strike rate of nearly 140 in the T20 World Cup, besides finishing with nine wickets in eight innings at an economy of 7.86. He will look forward to carrying the same form during the ongoing away T20I series in Sri Lanka.