Irfan Pathan Mentions One Thing Indian Team Won't Be Able To Do With Axar Patel That Ravindra Jadeja Did

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan mentioned one area that India won’t be able to experiment with Axar Patel as a replacement of Ravindra Jadeja. 

India will miss the services of their star all-rounder Jadeja in the remaining matches of the Asia Cup 2022. 

Axar Patel replaced Ravindra Jadeja in India’s Asia Cup 2022 squad

Jadeja sustained a knee injury after the Hong Kong game and has been replaced by Axar in India’s 15-member squad. 

Axar Patel was selected as a reserve player for Asia Cup and has been brought as a like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja by the selectors.

“Axar Patel is the absolutely correct like-to-like replacement. The only problem is that Jadeja had become such a fantastic batter that you could have batted him up the order, you might not be able to do that with Axar,” Irfan said on Star Sports.

“You will get good bowling and fielding, there is no problem about that, but there will definitely be some issues regarding that change you could have done in the batting,” he elaborated.

Will Axar Patel replicate his good batting form in Asia Cup?

Jadeja was promoted to No. 4 in the batting order in the game against Pakistan where he scored a crucial 35 and played an important role in the 52-run partnership with Hardik Pandya.

On the other hand, Axar is yet to prove his worth as a batter at the international level. He has played some good knocks with the bat this year including an unbeaten 35-ball 64 against West Indies in the second ODI in July.

However, the Gujarat player hasn’t done enough with the bat against stronger bowling line-ups like England or Australia which certainly raises a question mark on his batting skills.

The remainder of the Asia Cup will allow Axar to prove his selection in the squad before the T20 World Cup.

India will play against Pakistan in their first game of the Super 4 stage on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Also Read: IND vs PAK: India Will Miss Ravindra Jadeja, But Axar Patel Is Not A Bad Replacement – Wasim Jaffer