Former India opener Aakash Chopra praised Axar Patel for his impressive spell with the ball against New Zealand in Ahmedabad last night. The spin bowling all-rounder, who is also the vice-captain of the team, had earlier played at the same venue in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Chopra was impressed by the statement Patel made through his consistency on the field, be it fielding efforts or bowling efforts.
Akshar Patel leaves behind India’s success story in T20 World Cup 2026
Axar Patel played a very important role for Team India in the last two stages of the tournament. In the semi-final, he took a brilliant catch to dismiss England captain Harry Brook. His efforts transformed into another stunning catch to dismiss Will Jacques in the same match.
In the high-scoring match, England came very close to chasing the total but such extraordinary efforts always make the difference in a pressured match, the former cricketer, now a cricket expert, expressed through his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra said in his YouTube video, “There is a need to talk about Axar Patel because Bapu is unbelievable. You had put Bapu (Axar Patel) on this ground because of negative matchups. Then Bapu brought you here. Harry Brook and Will Jack’s catches, bowling and then when you came here, who got Finn Allen out? Bapu got him out.”
Axar Patel makes the team better in ICC events
In the final, on a batting-friendly track where India scored 255 runs, Patel baffled the opposition batsmen with his quality spin and thought process. Axar Patel took the wickets of Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips in his three-over spell.
Chopra said in his video, “Who dismissed Glenn Phillips? Bapu dismissed him. So Bapu is absolutely brilliant. He took three wickets this time. He also dismissed Daryl Mitchell on a full toss. He did not get enough chances to bat now, otherwise he had also won the last World Cup on the basis of his batting and bowling.”
According to a statistic, Team India has not lost its last 20 ICC matches with Akshar Patel in the playing combination. In the T20 World Cup 2026, Patel played 7 matches and took a total of 11 wickets. The Indian team management dropped him for the Super 8 encounter against South Africa and India eventually lost the match. The spinner’s most successful performance in the World Cup 2026 came in the final against New Zealand, where he took 3 wickets for 27 runs.
‘Bapu’ factor #T20WorldCup #INDvsNZ #aksharpatel pic.twitter.com/Fyz6rgV020
– Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) 9 March 2026
Along with praising Axar, the former cricketer also praised Shivam Dubey, who played his part consistently well throughout the T20 World Cup 2026. For Chopra, Dubey is like a stealth fighter who completed his tasks without making much noise. In the final, Dubey’s unbeaten 26 off 8 balls helped India cross the 250-run mark.
Chopra also mentioned Shivam Dubey in his YouTube video.
He said, “I will talk about Shivam Dubey. It seems like he is a fifth generation stealth fighter. He is not visible at all. He flies under the radar. Nobody talks about him. He quietly does his work and goes away. He has been like that, but what a player he is.”
In the summit clash, India led the pace bowling attack, with Jasprit Bumrah being named player of the match for his incredible bowling, taking 4 wickets in 4 overs, with an economy rate of less than four.
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