Axar Patel injured ahead of CT 2025 semi-finals? Spinner's dressing room act sparks concerns

India National Cricket Team all-rounder Axar Patel no doubt was one of the key reasons behind the win of his team against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The match between the two teams took place on Sunday (2nd March) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.

Axar Patel contributed equally well for India with bat, ball, as well as on the field. The all-rounder was one of the major reasons behind the Rohit Sharma-led side winning all three games of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and ending the league stage undefeated.

Axar Patel oozed his class with the bat and ball against New Zealand

With the bat, Axar played a valuable innings of 42 runs and it came at a time when India National Cricket Team was left tottering at 30/3. The left-hander joined hands with Shreyas Iyer and added 98 runs for the fourth wicket to bail the team out of trouble.

With the ball, Axar was extremely economical and also took the wicket of Kane Williamson, who looked threatening with the bat. Not only this, the all-rounder also took a stupendous catch in the field to remove Rachin Ravindra to provide India with a first wicket.

However, Axar Patel didn't look in great shape after the match and it raised speculations about his injury. The all-rounder was seen wearing an ice pack on his knee. This came to the notice during the fielding medal ceremony after the New Zealand game in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Axar Patel was one of the contenders to win the medal for the catch that he took to remove Rachin Ravindra. Along with him, Virat Kohli was the second nominee while Shreyas Iyer also was one of the contenders to win the fielding medal for his heroics on the field.

The fielding medal was provided by Training assistant Udenaka Nuwan Senevirathn but there was a huge twist. The players, as well as the support staff, were seen searching for it while exclaiming, "Medal hi nahi mil raha!" (The medal is not being found) before Axar Patel was seen giving it to fielding coach T Dilip.

Watch: Virat Kohli beats Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer to win fielding medal after New Zealand clash in ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Here's the video:

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The way we squeezed in, especially when Mitchell came in - T Dilip

India fielding coach T Dilip lauded players for their heroics on the field, especially when Daryl Mitchell was batting. He pointed out how the players made run-scoring hard for the New Zealand National Cricket Team batter before announcing the contenders. He said:

"We always speak about being a gun fielding unit. For me, most important for that is how we are being proactive. I thought different phases of the game.The way we squeezed in, especially when Mitchell came in, that he couldn't get rid of the strike."

Also read: Varun Chakravarthy to be dropped? India's playing XI for CT 2025 semi-final picked by Ravi Shastri