Former England captain Michael Vaughan dropped a bomb during a discussion panel. The former international cricketer claimed that due to overthinking, Team India suddenly dropped Axar Patel from the playing eleven for the important Super 8 match against South Africa on February 22.
India faced a cruel reality against South Africa as they suffered a 76-run defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. For this particular match, India named Washington Sundar in place of Patel, who is also the vice-captain of the team.
Why did Team India remove Axar Patel from the playing eleven?
Why was Patel dropped to make room for Sundar? No clear answer has been found yet. According to one theory, to counter the left-handed Proteas batsmen in the middle, the Indian team management chose Sundar instead of Patel. However, statistics do not support this theory.
According to the statistics, Axar Patel, who like Washington Sundar is a spin bowling all-rounder, was more successful against left-handed batsmen than right-handed batsmen.
During the live chat session on Cricbuzz, Michael Vaughan said that when there are too many minds in a backroom, it can be problematic for the team. As long as a team is on a winning streak, no one will ask questions, but as soon as it loses momentum, people will definitely point fingers at the decision that could have led to the defeat. The former England captain wanted to know whose idea it was to replace Washington Sundar with Axar Patel in such an important match.
Sometimes the brain makes life too complicated: Michael Vaughan
“There are a lot of people in the backroom. There are a lot of analysts, a lot of scientists, a lot of minds, and sometimes the brains make life complicated. And when you have so many people around the table and you are winning, playing well and Axar is doing well too”, Vaughan said.
“I want to know about the guy who was around that board meeting and went, I think we should feed Washington Sundar.”
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‘I want to know who picked up that call’@Michael Vaughn Doesn’t step back #T20WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/G9ql8tOZ3R
– Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) 23 February 2026
According to the statistics, against the right-handed batsman, Patel averages 17.42 after playing 488 balls in T20Is. He took 28 wickets with an economy rate of 7.21.
Against left-handed batsmen, the spinner took 8 wickets playing only 99 balls with an economy rate of 7.15 and an average of 16.50.
Axar Patel’s T20I statistics against right-handed batsmen and left-handed batsmen
Patel’s T20I stats vs right-handed batsmen
| balls | 488 |
| Wicket | 28 |
| average | 17.42 |
| strike rate | 14.5 |
| economy rate | 7.21 |
Patel’s T20I stats vs left-handed batsmen
| balls | 99 |
| Wicket | 6 |
| average | 16.50 |
| strike rate | 13.8 |
| economy rate | 7.15 |
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