Axar Patel

Axar Patel player profile

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel has been increasingly handy with the bat in the lower order across formats - enough to be classified as a bowling allrounder. He played just one first-class game in his debut season for Gujarat, but had a more successful showing in 2013, when he was one of the key contributors to India Under-23s' title win in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup, with seven wickets, including a four-for in the semi-final against UAE. He was consistent for Gujarat with bat and ball in the Ranji Trophy that season, finishing with 369 runs at an average of 46.12 and 29 wickets at 23.58.

Axar scored an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2013 season but didn't get a game. He had a more impressive season the following year, after switching to Kings XI Punjab - 16 wickets at an economy rate of 6.22 - and was rewarded with a place in the Indian ODI squad for the tour to Bangladesh, though he only played one match.

He made his T20 debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, but for the next three years found himself in and out of the limited-overs squads, stepping in more often than not in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. His Test debut likewise came about when Jadeja was forced to sit out the 2021 England series with a broken thumb. Axar took five wickets on debut in the second Test in Chennai, and followed it up with an 11-wicket haul in the third: he finished the series with 27 wickets. In 2022, he made a 27-ball fifty, his first in ODIs, to seal a series win for India against West Indies.

Axar Patel IPL factfile

- Axar Patel was first signed by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2013 but did not get a game. He was then picked up for INR 75 lakh by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the IPL 2014 auction.

- Axar had an immediate impact picking 17 wickets in as many games in his debut season, the joint-sixth-most in IPL 2014. He had a big role in taking Kings to the final for the first and so far, only time in the IPL.

- In IPL 2016, Axar claimed a hat-trick, taking four wickets in five balls in a match against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions.

- Axar stayed with Kings for five seasons till IPL 2018 before being released ahead of the 2019 auction.

- Axar was picked for INR 5 crore by Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2019 auction and has stayed with them since. He was one of four players retained by Capitals ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 9 crore.