Axar Patel: How spinner's ability to counter spin with bat makes him valuable

While his performances over the years and improvements in batting have been under the radar of many and he is just one of many options in a country that has no shortage of spin bowling all-rounders, a deep dive into his role can really help one understand that he is a rare specie as far as Indian cricket is concerned: A spinner, who bashes spin with his bat too!

In the 2020s, Axar's numbers with the bat across all formats have undergone a huge upgrade. In 99 matches and 81 innings, Axar has scored 1,606 runs at an average of 26.76, with eight half-centuries and best score of 84. With these numbers, he has been able to place himself as a serious competitors for a spot against premier all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin.

During this decade, Axar also played several knocks during which he saved India from jaws of defeat, guiding his team out of troubled waters, with one well-timed drive at a time. These knocks often saw him take on world-class spin bowling really well. Being a practitioner of this art, he could read them really well.

Be it his 47 in 31 balls, which took India from 34/3 to 176/7 in T20 World Cup final against South Africa at Barbados, his 84 against Australia at Nagpur Test in 2023 that took India to 400 from 240/7 and 74 in the next Test in Delhi against Aussies during which he helped India reach within reach of Australia's first innings total of 262 from a troublesome scoreline of 135/6, these are some notable gems against world-class spinners like Keshav Maharaj, Nathan Lyon, Tabraiz Shami, Matthew Kuhnemann that prove "Baapu (Axar's nickname), thaari batting kamaal che!" (Baapu, your batting is great!)

Axar is among the best spin players in the current Indian set-up and his additional skills as a bowler and a solid fielder makes him a rare talent. Axar has an average of 40.38 since January 2021 in Tests and 525 runs. Only four more batters, Yashasvi Jaiswal (81.75), Rishabh Pant (55.15), Shreyas Iyer (41.84) and Shubman Gill (41.04) have more average against spin than Axar, as per Wisden.

Axar has batted everywhere from number four to nine across all formats, though he is not a very frequent player at two-down spot. His ability to counter-attack against spin, especially in Asian conditions, makes him valuable. In white-ball cricket, this ability makes him a valuable floater who can be used in various tactical match-ups against spinners.

Coming to ODIs, he averages 37.75 against spin and strikes at 101 against spin since January 2021. Six batters, Gill (80.00), KL Rahul (69.40), Shreyas Iyer (60.00), Virat Kohli (45.22), Ishan Kishan (45.09) and Rohit Sharma (45.07) have better average against spin. Only four of these batters strike at above 100 against spin, Rohit (117), Ishan (101.8), Axar himself and Iyer (100.6).

Except for Kishan, all of these batters are India's first choice ODI batters and Axar is putting up a fine fight against them. But the interesting thing is, none of these other batters bowl and only Rohit has a considerably better strike rate against spin.

Coming to T20Is, Axar has a strike rate of 148.1 and an average of 40.00 against spin. His average against spin is bettered by Ruturaj Gaikwad (76.00), Shivam Dube (49.00) and Suryakumar Yadav (58.67), while Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Abhisek Sharma lag behind. Though his strike rate is bettered by Abhishek (208.7), Jaiswal (182.5), Samson (171.3), Gaikwad (159.4), Dube (150.5) and only Suryakumar lags behind with SR of 147.7, it is Axar's ability as a spinner that makes him a valuable asset. Out of these batters, only Dube and Abhishek bowl part-time pace and spin respectively.

As a bowler, he still averages below 20 in Tests and can run through teams on spin bowling friendly wickets. In white-ball cricket, he goes at an economy rate of 4.50 in ODIs and 7.30 in T20Is, making him a brilliant all-round option due to his striking abilities against spin and bowling greatness. (ANI)