3 Indian players who deserve a longer run during the Nidahas Trophy

#3 Axar Patel

Axar Patel deserves more opportunities with the bat

Axar Patel came into prominence after he performed splendidly for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2014 winning the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ award.

He made his debut in the Bangladesh tour that followed the IPL and performed decently whenever he was given the opportunities.

However, he has always been the third spinner in the squad, first behind Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and now behind Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Patel’s ability to bowl flat makes him a useful option to stem the flow of runs during the middle overs.

His aggressive batting has been on display during the IPL, but, he does not have a great record with the bat at international level with the opportunities being limited.

After his comeback during the Sri Lanka tour, Axar has featured in eight ODIs picking 10 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 4.57.

He has been pretty expensive in the T20I format in the four games that he has played during this period but deserves a fair run given his good record in the IPL.

With Kuldeep Yadav rested for the Nidahas Trophy, he needs to be included in the playing XI. Further, he can also be tested at the No.7 spot with Hardik Pandya also not a part of the squad.