IND vs SA 2022: Why is Axar Patel not playing today's T20 World Cup match?

Team India are taking on South Africa in a crucial Super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Perth on Sunday, October 30. The Men in Blue are on top of the table in Group 2, having won both their matches so far. As such, they will go into the game against the Proteas with a lot of confidence.

South Africa are third in the group, having won their match against Bangladesh by 104 runs. Earlier, they were unlucky not to register a win against Zimbabwe due to rain.

India won the toss and decided to bat first against the Proteas. The Men in Blue have made one change to their playing XI. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel has been left out while batter Deepak Hooda has been included in the team.

Axar has had a mixed T20 World Cup 2022 so far. The 28-year-old was taken for 21 runs in the only over he bowled in India’s first match against Pakistan. He also failed with the bat as he was run-out for two following a mix-up with Virat Kohli.

The bowling all-rounder did much better against the Netherlands, finishing with impressive figures of 2/18 from his four overs. He dismissed key Dutch batters Max O’Dowd and Bas de Leede.

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Logic behind Hooda being picked ahead of Axar

Despite doing well against the Netherlands, there were hints in India’s pre-match preparations that Hooda might be preferred over Axar for the South Africa challenge. The surface in Perth, where Sunday’s match is being played, is known to favor fast bowlers.

The Proteas have quality pacers in Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, who can exploit the conditions very well. Further, South Africa have also brought in Lungi Ngidi for Tabraiz Shamsi, while left-arm pacer Wayne Parnell has been retained in the playing XI.

The decision to bring in Hooda has been made as a conscious effort to strengthen the batting, keeping the conditions and the opposition in mind. While Axar is decent with the willow, Hooda is a big-hitter and is considered to have better skills with the bat compared to the left-arm spinner.

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IND vs SA - Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (w), Temba Bavuma (c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje.