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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandya is being discussed as a potential option for India’s T20I squad as the team management reviews its choices in the shortest format.
The move comes after Axar Patel produced modest returns across India's recent assignments against England and Ireland, prompting the management to reassess its left-arm spin options.
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Krunal Pandya’s India T20I comeback becomes a possibility
India are exploring alternatives in the left-arm spin department after Axar's returns remained underwhelming across the seven matches he played against England and Ireland.
Krunal Pandya has emerged as one of the names being considered for the role, as per a report in Times of India. The all-rounder has not played a T20I for India since the 2021 series against Sri Lanka, but his performances in the IPL have kept him in contention.
The 2026 IPL season was particularly encouraging for Krunal, who picked up 14 wickets for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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Krunal Pandya vs Axar Patel in IPL - Full comparison
Krunal Pandya and Axar Patel have both been regular Indian all-rounders in the IPL, but their recent five-season numbers show different trends. From IPL 2022 to 2026, Krunal has scored 839 runs and taken 56 wickets, while Axar has accumulated 1,136 runs and claimed 44 wickets.
With the bat, Axar has been the more productive of the two over this period. He scored 182 runs in 2022, followed by 283, 235, 263 and 173 runs in the next four seasons. Krunal, meanwhile, recorded 183, 188, 133, 109 and 226 runs respectively. Krunal's 2026 season was his best of the five-year period, with 226 runs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
| IPL Season | Krunal Runs | Axar Runs |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 183 | 182 |
| 2023 | 188 | 283 |
| 2024 | 133 | 235 |
| 2025 | 109 | 263 |
| 2026 | 226 | 173 |
| Total | 839 | 1,136 |
With the ball, however, Krunal has the advantage. He took 10 wickets in 2022, nine in 2023 and six in 2024 before producing 17 wickets in 2025 and another 14 in 2026. Axar picked up 6, 11, 11, 5 and 11 wickets respectively across the same seasons. Overall, the five-season IPL numbers show Axar Patel's greater batting output, while Krunal Pandya has contributed more wickets.
| IPL Season | Krunal Wickets | Axar Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10 | 6 |
| 2023 | 9 | 11 |
| 2024 | 6 | 11 |
| 2025 | 17 | 5 |
| 2026 | 14 | 11 |
| Total | 56 | 44 |
Krunal Pandya vs Axar Patel in international cricket - Full comparison
The international comparison is less straightforward because Axar has played considerably more cricket for India. Krunal's international career has been limited to ODIs and T20Is, whereas Axar has represented India in all three formats.
With the bat, Krunal has scored 130 runs in five ODIs and 124 runs in 19 T20Is. Axar's numbers are significantly higher, with 688 Test runs, 918 ODI runs and 750 T20I runs. He has also played 15 Tests, 74 ODIs and 101 T20Is.
| Format | Krunal Runs | Axar Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Tests | — | 688 |
| ODIs | 130 | 918 |
| T20Is | 124 | 750 |
The bowling numbers also heavily favour Axar because of his much larger international workload. Krunal has taken two ODI wickets and 15 T20I wickets, while Axar has 57 Test wickets, 80 ODI wickets and 101 T20I wickets.
Therefore, Axar has a clear advantage in overall international numbers, while Krunal's recent IPL bowling form provides a strong argument for his potential return to India's T20I setup.
| Format | Krunal Wickets | Axar Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| Tests | — | 57 |
| ODIs | 2 | 80 |
| T20Is | 15 | 101 |
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