Axar Patel reveals career-changing advice from Dhoni in 2021 which helped him as a batter

Axar, now an integral part of the Team India set-up, a decade after his debut, played a crucial role as an all-rounder during India's ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 wins, contributing clutch performances as both batter and bowler. Just a few days ahead of the T20 World Cup, Axar spoke to ESPNCricinfo's 'The Cricket Monthly'.

The story goes way back to October 2021, when Dhoni travelled with the Indian team as their mentor for the ICC T20 World Cup. Before this tournament started, Axar had played 53 international games for India, having made just 311 runs at an average of 14.13, with a best score of 43 to his name. He was great with the ball though, having taken 81 wickets at an average of 24.49, with four five-fors and a ten-fer to his name.

With stars like Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzi Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja up in the pecking order and a young Washington Sundar also looming around, it seemed that Axar would not enjoy a career as fulfilling as he expected, primarily because of his struggles with the bat. He was a part of the reserves for the tournament, in which India crashed out in the group stage after huge losses to arch-rivals Pakistan and New Zealand.

Speaking during the interview, Axar said, "Mahi bhai, in international cricket, I have not been able to prove myself exactly what I can do, especially in batting more than bowling. You have seen me for a long time. What can I do?"

Dhoni responded by telling him that how Axar as a 19-year-old was getting out to yorkers, including a scorcher from Dale Steyn, the Proteas legend and how Axar was stuck in a fear of failure.

"When you came in, you were 19 years old. A few times, you were out early, facing yorkers. I remember watching you get lbw early on to a ball from Dale Steyn that cut in [in a 2015 ODI]," Axar recalled Dhoni as saying.

"All these things are not leaving your mind - at times you have got out to a good ball, but you are stuck thinking about those failures. When you go to IPL, where you have made runs, you never think about all these things, but as soon as you return to play internationals, you start saying or thinking, 'I have to prove this. I have to tell this person this. I have to play this way.' So the way you play in domestic freely and make runs in IPL, when you go to internationals, settle down, take singles and doubles, become comfortable and then attack. Play your game. Do not go with the burden that if I get out, I will be a failure if I don't make runs again, because I am playing as an all-rounder. Thinking on those lines, you are adding pressure on yourself," added Axar while recalling these words of wisdom from India's biggest 'trophy collector' who had made a career bailing his side out of pressure.

Axar recalled that when he was dropped from the team in 2018, he worked really hard on his "batting, bowling, fitness, everything" before he was recalled in 2021. These three years saw the all-rounder do some relentless grind in the Indian Premier League (IPL), domestic competitions and for India A.

"My mind also. I understood that despite not doing anything wrong, I have not been or am not being selected for whatever reason. So what can I do? What can I focus on? Obviously, there was domestic cricket and IPL, so I performed consistently there. The performances in Ranji Trophy, India A and IPL helped me grow in my role, and when I got the call in 2021, things changed," he added.

Since his recall, his numbers as a batter have improved: he has scored 1,983 runs in 123 matches and 99 innings at an average of 26.79 and a strike rate of 79.41, with eight fifties and a best score of 84, playing some excellent knocks for India across all formats. He has also taken 161 wickets at an average of 23.27, five five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul. While he was always great with the ball, Axar has become more consistent with the bat, functioning as a pinch-hitter, stabiliser or a spin basher, excelling in most roles assigned to him, be it down the order or in the top six. (ANI)