Axar Patel reveals Rahul Dravid's strategic gamble that led to India's T20 World Cup 2024 win

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has opened up about head coach Rahul Dravid’s masterstroke that must have stunned many during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa.

In the high-stakes final of the T20 World Cup 2024, Team India got off to a rocky start. Losing captain Rohit Sharma (9) and Rishabh Pant (0) in the second over and then Suryakumar Yadav (3) in the fifth over, the Indian cricket team found themselves at a precarious 34/3 within 4.3 overs.

Axar Patel reveals Rahul Dravid’s ‘masterstroke’ in T20 World Cup 2024 Final

The situation led Dravid to take a surprising yet strategic call for India. In an unexpected move, Axar was promoted up the batting order by Dravid, a decision that was not part of the original game plan, sending him ahead of the specialist batters like Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, or even Ravindra Jadeja.

This tactical change not only stabilized India's innings but also provided the momentum needed to push forward against South Africa. This strategic masterstroke by Dravid turned out to be a pivotal moment in the match, as Axar's quick knock helped India recover from their early setbacks and ultimately helped them put a competitive total of 176/7 on the board.

The Gujarat all-rounder justified his promotion and met Dravid’s expectations by playing the crucial knock of 47 runs off 31 balls and adding 72 off 54 for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (76) to bring the Men in Blue out of the precarious situation in the summit clash against South Africa in Barbados.

Later, Star Sports broadcaster Dinesh Karthik asked Patel about the decision behind his promotion over Pandya, Dube, and Jadeja, and the all-rounder revealed that even he was surprised by Dravid’s call, as he had not anticipated batting higher in the order in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa.

I did not even get the chance to think: Axar Patel

Axar Patel told Dinesh Karthik on Star Sports: “I thought I would be going down the order. But when we lost three wickets early, suddenly Rahul Bhai told me, 'Axar, pad up.' I did not even get the chance to think about my batting, so that worked for me.”

Notably, Patel has been impressive with the bat in the IPL for the past few seasons with the Delhi Capitals, scoring 235, 283, and 182 runs in the last three seasons, and that’s why he was promoted to the batting order in the final and he repaid the faith shown by Dravid in style.

The star spin all-rounder was one of the key players for India in their successful T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. He took nine wickets and scored 92 runs in eight innings in the tournament. After winning the T20 World Cup 2024, Patel said that he felt really proud to be able to contribute to India’s success.

Axar added, “This time, I felt that I had to do something good for India. Finally, I did it. I'm feeling so proud.”