Not Jasprit Bumrah or Hardik Pandya! This 32-year-old is India’s real ICC hero

Former India opener Aakash Chopra applauded Axar Patel for his impactful spells with the ball against New Zealand last night in Ahmedabad. The spin bowling allrounder, also the vice-captain of the team, dropped before on the same venue in the T20 World Cup 2026.

Chopra was impressed to see the statement Patel made through his consistency on the ground, whether it was the fielding efforts or the bowling efforts.

Axar Patel left a permanent behind India's success story in the T20 World Cup 2026

Axar Patel played a very crucial role for Team India in the final two laps of the tournament. In the Semi-finals, he took a splendid catch to dismiss England captain Harry Brook. His efforts translated into another stunning catch as well to dismiss Will Jacks in the same match.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

In the high-scoring match, England went very close to chasing down the total, but those kinds of extraordinary efforts always made a difference in a pressure match, the former cricketer, now a cricket expert, expressed through his YouTube channel.

"Axar Patel needs to be spoken about because Bapu is incredible. You had dropped Bapu (Axar Patel) at this ground because of negative matchups. Bapu then brought you till here. The catches of Harry Brook and Will Jacks, bowling, and then who got Finn Allen out when you came here? Bapu got him out", Aakash Chopra said in his YouTube video.

Axar Patel makes the team superior in ICC events

In the final, on a batting-friendly track where India scored 255, Patel tricked the opposing batters with his quality spin and thinking process. In his three-over spells, Axar Patel claimed the wickets of Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, and Glenn Phillips.

"Who got Glenn Phillips out? Bapu got him out. So Bapu is absolutely stellar. He picked up three wickets this time. He got Daryl Mitchell out as well on a full toss. He didn't get enough chances to bat now, or else he won the last World Cup as well on the might of his batting and bowling", Chopra said in his video.

According to a stat, with Axar Patel in the playing combination, Team India have not lost their last 20 ICC matches. In the T20 World Cup 2026, Patel played 7 matches and picked up 11 wickets in total. The Indian team management benched him in their Super 8 clash against South Africa, and India eventually lost the match. The spinner's most successful figures in the World Cup 2026 came in the final, against New Zealand, where he bagged 3 wickets for 27.

The 'Bapu' factor 😬#T20WorldCup #INDvsNZ #AxarPatel pic.twitter.com/Fyz6rgV020

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) March 9, 2026

Along with praising Axar, the former cricketer applauds Shivam Dube as well, who constantly played his part well throughout the T20 World Cup 2026. For Chopra, Dube is like a stealth fighter who accomplished his tasks without making much noise. In the final, Dube's unbeaten 26-run cameo against 8 deliveries helped India to go over the 250-run mark.

Chopra mentioned Shivam Dube in his YouTube video as well

"I will talk about Shivam Dube. It seems like he is a fifth-generation stealth fighter. He isn't visible at all. He flies under the radar. No one talks about him. He does his job quietly and leaves. He has been like that, but what a player he is," he added.

In the summit clash, the pace spearheaded by India, Jasprit Bumrah, was named as the best player of the match for his incredible bowling spells, taking 4 wickets in 4 overs, with an economy rate below four.

Read More: Ishan Kishan fires shots at Ajit Agarkar for punishing him after T20 World Cup triumph