why Axar Patel dropped: Why was Axar Patel kept out of the playing eleven against South Africa, the assistant coach answered

New Delhi. The Indian team has decided to bench Axar Patel in the important Super 8 match of the ICC T20 World Cup against South Africa. The gamble of keeping Washington Sundar in the playing eleven backfired. In Ahmedabad, the Indian team was all out for 111 runs in reply to 187 runs. The team’s semi-final equation got spoiled due to the crushing defeat of 76 runs. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate explained why Akshar was kept out.

In a match considered very important, the team’s vice-captain Akshar Patel was made to sit out and in his place Washington Sundar was retained in the playing eleven. This was simply because his match-up was considered better against left-handed batsmen. The performance of this all-rounder from Tamil Nadu was disappointing with both bat and ball and he could not leave any significant impact. Many fans and cricket experts criticized the decision of playing Sundar over Akshar.

When assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate came to talk to the media in the press conference after the match, he was also asked the same question. Axar was rested in the last group match against Netherlands and it seemed that he would make a comeback in the team against South Africa. But the team management retained the same playing eleven of the last match played against the Dutch team.

Ten Doeschate said that the decision to play Sundar over Akshar was taken only on the basis of match-up. Sitting Akshar out does not mean that there is any question on his talent or ability, because everyone in the team knows what a big match winner he is. “We had a lot of discussions over the last few days about the playing XI. And probably the only way it didn’t go in our favor was if we got a great start like today, like getting Quinton and Rickelton out early. We were looking at the match-up in the middle overs. And then obviously, one had to sit out. So would we have dropped a batsman and brought in another bowler? Looking back now, that probably would have been the right decision,”

He further said, “At that time we felt that we needed Rinku, as an eighth batsman. And the decision was taken on that basis. But of course, this does not mean that Akshar’s leadership or his importance to the team has reduced. It is difficult for us to select 11 players out of 15 every week. We have to choose the right combination for the next two Super 8 matches.”

Ten Doeschate also said that it was not easy to drop Akshar because he is the vice-captain. “As I said earlier, in our analysis we thought the biggest threat would be from Quinton, Ryan Rickelton and David Miller. When you have to choose between the two, we thought we would like to have a player who can bowl in the powerplay. Akshar sometimes bowls in the powerplay, but we think Washy (Washington) has found a way to bowl effectively in the powerplay. Today he did not bowl in the powerplay, so it looks like we just bowled the middle. Chosen the bowler for the overs, in which Akshar would have been a better option.