Rohit Sharma or Rahul Dravid? Axar Patel reveals who decided to promote him in the T20 World Cup final vs South Africa

Indian Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma and former head coach Rahul Dravid’s decision to promote Axar Patel in the batting order was one of the masterstrokes that helped the Men in Blue to script history by winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados last month.

In the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa, the Indian Cricket Team faced a challenging start as captain Rohit fell cheaply at 9, and two balls later, Rishabh Pant was dismissed for a first-ball duck. The situation worsened when Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for just three while attempting his signature scoop shot in Barbados.

Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid's strategic move with Axar Patel proved masterstroke behind India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph

After the top-order collapse, the Men in Blue were in a precarious situation at 34/3, and that was the time when Dravid and Rohit took the bold call to send Axar at number five ahead of the likes of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Ravindra Jadeja in the title clash against South Africa.

Well, the all-rounder stepped up in a very tough situation, delivering a counter-attacking 47 off 31 balls, featuring four sixes and a four, as well as adding 72 runs with Virat Kohli (76) for the fourth wicket to bring India out of danger and pave the way for a competitive total against South Africa.

Later, Dube’s quick 27 runs off 16 balls took Team India to 176/7 on the board, and the rest is history: Indian bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Pandya pulled off a miraculous seven-run victory for the side against the Proteas side, winning the T20 World Cup after 17 years.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel opened up about the chat with Rohit and important messages from Dravid and Pandya that boosted his confidence despite not analyzing the pitch, and he became one of the heroes of India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph. The all-rounder revealed that once Pant got out, Dravid and Rohit told him to just pad up, anticipating another wicket.

Axar Patel reveals Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid's message and Hardik Pandya's key advice in the T20 World Cup 2024 Final

Axar Patel was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “Rohit bhai was standing beside me when Rishabh Pant got out. He told me, 'Axar pads pehen le'. After that, Yuzvendra Chahal came running to tell me that Rahul (Dravid) Bhai wants me to pad up. When I was padding up, I did not know what to do. We were two wickets down, and I had still not analyzed the pitch.”

The Gujarati cricketer further recalled the moment he saw Suryakumar Yadav get out, which happened so quickly that he had no time to process it. The all-rounder further noted that Hardik Pandya advised him in Gujarati to stay calm and focus on watching and hitting the ball when he was headed down the staircase, and this advice stayed with him.

Axar signed off by saying, “Next, I saw Suryakumar (Yadav) also get out. Things happened so suddenly that I did not have time to think. When I was going down the staircase, Hardik told me in Gujarati not to take any stress. 'Just watch the ball and hit the ball,' he said, and it stuck with me.”