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In a must-win match against England, spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel claims a milestone in his T20I career for Team India. The match tonight against England, in Bristol, marks Patel’s 100th T20 International appearance. He claims the milestone only as the fifth Indian cricketer.
Under the guidance of head coach Gautam Gambhir, the Indian cricket team witnessed multiple changes in the line-ups across all three formats of the game. Especially for the T20Is, the team management often shows its trust in emerging cricketers who either did well in the Indian Premier League or in the domestic cricket tournaments.
Axar Patel remains in the team as one of the few senior cricketers
Axar Patel remains one of the few senior cricketers who holds his place and is currently one of the main pillars of the team, which is currently in England for a white-ball series.
Ahead of the fourth match in the series, the spin bowling all-rounder sustained a decent performance both with bat and ball as he scored only 15 runs with the bat in three innings and claimed a couple of wickets in 2 innings.
As the second innings of the first match was called off due to rain, Patel got to show his bowling skills in two innings out of three. There are only a few players from India who have played 100 or more than hundred matches for the Men in Blue in the shortest format of the game. Former India cricketer Rohit Sharma, under whose leadership India won the 2024 T20 World Cup, is leading the board.
Rohit Sharma is leading the record tally
Rohit Sharma played 159 matches for India in the Men’s T20I format before retiring from the format. Seam bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya, how ruled out of the recent T20Is because of injuries, has played 138 matches for the India National Cricket Team in the format.
Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav are ranked third and fourth in the list respectively, with Axar Patel at the fifth position. While Virat Kohli played 125 T20I matches before signing off from the format, another former captain, Suryakumar Yadav, who guided the Men in Blue to the 2026 T20 World Cup glory, has so far represented the team in 113 T20Is.
As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dropped him from the team ahead of the UK tour, Yadav’s T20I stats are currently on hold. For the fourth straight match of the ongoing series against England, Patel has secured his place in the playing eleven and achieved the feat.
Most matches played for India in Men’s T20Is:
Rohit Sharma- 159
Hardik Pandya- 138
Virat Kohli- 125
Suryakumar Yadav- 113
Axar Patel- 100
Axar Patel joins some elite company 🌟 pic.twitter.com/7euksKMIxL
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) July 9, 2026
Axar Patel's IPL career in brief
Ahead of tonight’s game, Patel has claimed 746 runs in 62 innings with a strike rate of 131.10 and a batting average of 17.34.
With the ball, in 92 innings, the spinner has clinched 101 scalps, including the best figure of 3/9, for an amazing economy rate of 7.44.
