Axar Patel beats Suryakumar Yadav for this prestigious award in Indian cricket team

Indian All-rounder Axar Patel was awarded the Best Fielder of the Match award yesterday for his sensational one-handed catch against Australia.

Axar Patel, who is featuring in his 2nd ICC T20 World Cup edition, is having a good time in the USA and West Indies. The Gujarat-born cricketer has mostly been an understudy of identical All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja but in the recent past, he has showcased his quality very well across formats.

After a lot of years, the selectors and the Indian team are starting to value Axar Patel's quality and are realizing that he is a big asset. Last year in the ICC Cricket World Cup, he was sidelined due to an injury for veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin but in this T20 World Cup, no one could deny his spot.

Especially after quite an eventful Indian Premier League 2024 season with Delhi Capitals, Axar Patel was bound to take the flight. There were doubts about his participation in every game in place of Ravindra Jadeja but the team management has done very well fit them both. That's a beneficial point for the Men in Blue.

In the form of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, India has got two All-rounders who are extremely good fielders. Patel is very reliable with the bat and highly efficient with the ball in T20. He was in action yesterday against bitter rivals Australia in the Super 8s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Axar Patel's catch prevents Mitchell Marsh from causing damage

He might not have got the chance to contribute with the bat but he did very well in the 2nd innings with the ball. The left-arm off-spinner had the second-best economy rate among Indian bowlers who bowled at least 3 overs in the 2nd innings. Axar Patel had also picked up the important wicket of Marcus Stoinis for just 2 off 4.

But his most important contribution didn't come from bowling but it came while he was fielding on the leg side. In the last ball of the 9th over, Kuldeep Yadav bowled one in the stumps to Mitchell Marsh who tried to pull it away from the backfoot with all his power. However, he could not find as much distance and elevation as is required.

The height of the ball was perfectly judged by Axar Patel, who rose in the air and completed the catch with his non-bowling right arm. As soon as Axar took the catch, the Indians behind him and around the stadium stood up on their feet and clapped for that effort.

It wasn't the easiest of ones but Axar Patel was able to pull it off. For that, he was adjudged as the Best Fielder of the match by India's fielding coach T Dilip, who famously introduced the Fielding medal ceremony after matches from the ODI World Cup last year. Dilip named four contenders - Axar, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rohit Sharma.

To present this medal. T Dilip called up Nuwan Senevirathne who is team India's Training assistant and Throwdown specialist.

Watch the catch

Give Axar Patel the Gold Medal🏅

This Flying Catch from Axar Patel literally changed the match in favour of Team India 🇮🇳#INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/c8mx4CXBql

— Richard Kettleborough (@RichKettle07) June 24, 2024