From Axar to Bapu – The origin story of India’s star all-rounder

As one walks through the serpentine lanes of Desai Vago in Bhakti Nagar, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Nadiad, the century-old buildings speak volumes about the rich culture and heritage of this quaint town in Gujarat.

At a lane turn, one comes across a nondescript one-storey building. A faded blue-coloured signboard and a huge portrait of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on one of the walls suggest that the house is the birthplace of Patel, the first deputy Prime Minister of independent India.

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Just about 800 metres away from the ‘Sardar Patel Janamsthal’, stands ‘Rajkiran’ – the residence of India’s spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, whose game-changing performance guided India to the final of the T20 World Cup as the Men in Blue clinched a 68-run win over England in the semifinal on Thursday.

Making most of the sluggish surface in Guyana, India fielded three spinners, and the decision paid off as Axar and Kuldeep Yadav toyed with England batters, claiming three wickets each.

This has been quite an eventful tournament for Axar. Having claimed eight wickets in seven outings, he has played the role of a floater with the bat, and was even elevated to No. 4 against Pakistan, where he chipped in with a crucial 18-ball-20, and even batting lower down the order – at No. 7 and No. 8 – in the other games, he has had a couple of quickfire cameos.

And, ahead of yet another final outing, the team management needs to find a plan to end its trophy drought, while Axar needs to keep going. He certainly will be looking to build on the momentum and make everyone, who’s backed him in his journey proud.

– The journey from Nadiad to Team India-

In Nadiad, however, finding Axar’s home is not a challenge as everyone seems to know the address. Not long ago, his parents – Rajeshbhai and Pritiben – would organise live screenings of the matches that the all-rounder played, and most people living in this town would have visited his residence at some point.

However, becoming a cricketer wasn’t easy for Axar. He was a class-topper in the school and his mother, Pritiben, was hesitant to let her son pursue cricket due to fears of him getting injured.

Initially, Rajeshbhai wanted Axar to pursue engineering, but being a die-hard cricket fan, he took him to Sanjaybhai Patel, when Axar was just 13.

Back then, he was a left-arm fast bowler, and Sanjaybhai – a BCCI-affiliated coach and a former secretary of the Kheda District Cricket Association – observed him for a few days, and was convinced that the youngster had the potential to play at least first-class cricket.

He, of course, did not imagine that a few years later, the tall and lean teenager would break into the Indian team and emerge as one of the match-winners.

“Since he was lean and tall for his age, Axar had long strides too,” says Sanjaybhai. In the nets or even during local tournaments, Axar would claim wickets because of his accuracy.

However, in a few games, when his team was in a winning-position, Axar would bowl left-arm spin. “Initially, it was about fun. But as he graduated, we switched him to left-arm spin, and he started claiming five to six wickets regularly,” says Sanjaybhai.

During the training sessions, Sanjaybhai was assisted by two coaches – Amrish Patel and Swapnil Patel – who followed Axar’s journey closely.

“In school tournaments, he would score runs and bowl at a good pace. But with time, Sanjaybhai realised that left-arm spin would suit him well. That’s how it started, and once he started getting wickets, everyone started taking note of his performances,” says Amrish, who continues to work with Axar.

Even now, whenever the India international returns to Nadiad, he calls Amrish to the Kheda District Cricket Association ground for training.

“We plan things in advance, and every time he is back home, we train for longer hours and work on the areas that need to be addressed,” says Amrish.

While Axar maintains a cool and calm demeanour off the field, Amrish and other coaches who have seen him from close quarters, believe that on the field, he is a ‘khadoos’ cricketer.

“I have never seen him crumbling under pressure. Rather, he is someone who enjoys life and knows how to handle the trickiest of situations. Even when things aren’t going his way, you’ll never see Axar dejected…” says Amrish.

“He knows that he has the potential to come back stronger and he just keeps backing himself.”

-’ Bapu’ with a ‘ Khadoos’ mindset-

Much before Mahendra Singh Dhoni started calling him ‘Bapu’ for his uncanny similarities with Ravindra Jadeja, both on and off the field, Amrish got an idea about Axar’s ‘khadoos’ mindset in an age-group tournament.

“During one of Gujarat’s U-19 matches, I was the team manager, and we travelled to Haryana’s Jhajjar district. In one of the fixtures, he decided to target the opponent captain, who was a fast bowler. Before the over started, he told us: ‘ main iss ko square leg ke upar se six marunga’ and he did exactly that,” Amrish, who was the team manager on that tour, says.

While Axar’s confidence impressed Amrish, Sanjaybhai remembers an incident when he had to rebuke the all-rounder for being undisciplined. At the age of 17, Axar was appointed the captain of Kheda district’s U-19 team and shortly after being handed captaincy, Axar did not turn up for training for three days.

“When he finally came for training after four days, dressed in jeans and tee, I told him to step down from captaincy. I kept a blank paper on a table in the dressing room, and asked him to write down his resignation letter,” Sanjaybhai says.

Axar realised his mistake, offered an ‘unconditional apology’ and did seven rounds of sprints as a ‘punishment’. “That was my way of making him understand the importance of discipline. And then on, he never took things easy…”

As he made his presence felt at the age-group level, Axar was also in demand for local tennis ball tournaments. Even as the Kheda district association discouraged the youngsters from featuring in such unauthorised tournaments, Axar – along with a few of his friends – played in one of those games and scored a lot of runs.

“It’s a small town, so if someone plays well in a local tennis ball tournament, the news spreads fast. Back in those days, even local newspapers would carry pictures and reports. And, one morning, we saw Axar’s name in the newspapers as a leading run-scorer in one of the tennis ball tournaments,” says Manish Desai, the president of the KDCA.

To ensure that he stays away from those tournaments, Desai had a chat with Axar. “I told him that he has a bright future ahead, and he should take care of himself and not play in these tournaments. He listened to me,” Desai adds.

Over the next few years, Axar climbed up the ladder and broke into the Gujarat team, in respective age-group sides. Mukund Parmar worked with him at the National Cricket Academy as he was part of the emerging camps.

“I coached him, mainly on batting. At that time, he was one of the most impressive players. Since he was also from Gujarat, I always kept a tab on his performances,” says Parmar, who was also the chief selector of Gujarat earlier.

Impressed with his all-round abilities, Parmar drafted Axar into the Gujarat senior team. “That was a transition phase for Gujarat with youngsters like Jasprit Bumrah, Manprit Juneja coming in. That’s why we brought in Axar. He was a tough guy, and I have always believed that he has a ‘khadoos’ mindset, which brings the best out of him,” says Parmar.

-Entry into the IPL-

In the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season, Axar stamped his class as Gujarat faced Delhi in Surat. Playing his first game of the season – and second first-class match of his career – the left-arm spinner registered a miserly spell of 6 for 55, and even got the prized wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.

As the cricketing fraternity took note of him, Axar was picked by Mumbai Indians for the Indian Premier League, but he eventually got his opportunity in the 2014 season, donning the Punjab Kings – then known as Kings XI Punjab – colours.

With 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.17, Axar emerged as one of the leading spinners of the tournament and was eventually adjudged the Emerging Player of the tournament.

“The IPL gave youngsters like Axar and Bumrah a platform to share the stage with international players and by the time, they made it to the Indian team, they had a fair idea about how to handle pressure,” believes Hitesh Majmudar, a seasoned Gujarat coach, who saw both Bumrah and Axar in their formative years.

As the coach of Gujarat’s 2016-17 Ranji Trophy-winning team, Majmudar remembers the season’s first game against Baroda in Jaipur, where Axar impressed one and all with his gritty batting in the lower-order.

“Baroda scored 540-8 in the first innings, and we were 150 for 4, when Manprit and Axar came out to bat. And, we went up to 555 for 4 as Axar scored hundred and Manprit scored 200. But on that day, he showed his batting ability as well,” Majmudar says.

And, it is this ability to bat at No.8 that has made Axar one of the most dependable members of the Indian team, over the last few years. Even on days, when he has struggled with bowling, Axar has contributed with the bat – playing some match-winning knocks at the lower-order.

That was one of the reasons why he was picked in the Indian team for the ODI World Cup last year. However, a left quadricep injury during the Asia Cup forced him out, with Ravichandran Ashwin replacing him in the 15-member squad.

“It was disappointing for sure, but he made peace with it,” says Amrish. His aim was to get better and return to action soon, and during rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, Axar also focused on mental toughness and returned to action post-World Cup.

While he found his mojo in the home series against Afghanistan, Axar had a fairly decent IPL season as well for Delhi Capitals. Despite batter-friendly conditions and rules, Axar managed to stifle the batters, and claimed 11 wickets, besides scoring 235 runs.

Those outings boosted his confidence and helped him back himself in the challenging conditions in the USA and the West Indies.

“Like everyone, even I want Axar to play well in the T20 World Cup final and help India clinch the title, after so long. All of us wish to see Axar with the trophy,” Amrish says with a smile.

Will this dream come true in Barbados? We will have to wait till Saturday!