Nearly a year later, Indian all-rounder Axar Patel who was designated to feature in the ODI World Cup 2023 opens up on the emotions he had gone through after missing the marquee event owing to an injury.
Axar Patel opens on missing out ODI World Cup 2023
Initially, Axar was named in the India squad for the ODI World Cup 2023 but later was ruled out of the tournament after failing to recover from an injury he sustained during the Asia Cup 2023.
Axar Patel picked up a left quadriceps strain during India’s last Super Four clash against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the final squad for the marquee tournament.
In a recent interview, Axar Patel revealed that he was too hard on himself after losing the opportunity to represent India in the ODI World Cup 2023.
“When the T20 World Cup was in Dubai in 2021, Hardik Pandya was injured, and Shardul Thakur stepped in. Before the 2023 World Cup, I got injured and was out of the squad. R Ashwin took my place.
“After winning the World Cup in the West Indies, I realized I had been too hard on myself for asking that existential question of why it always seemed to happen to me. Evidently, God had different plans for me. He wanted me to be part of a World Cup-winning side,” said Axar.
“Yes, those seven months between the 2023 World Cup and now were very hard, but I learned to focus on what I could control and work on getting better.
“I concentrated on my rehab and my skills. During the IPL and just before the team selection, I was asked about my World Cup chances. My reply was that I focused on one day at a time and wasn’t thinking about the World Cup. That approach has worked for me. Now here we are as world champions,” he added.
After missing the ODI World Cup where India lost the final to Australia, Axar was roped in the squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 where he played a key role in India’s winning campaign.
Axar Patel bagged 9 wickets at an economy rate of 7.86 and scored 92 runs for India in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024.
