Champions Trophy 2025: The way the Indian team used Akshar Patel in this tournament has proved to be a trump card of the Champions Trophy. Coach Gautam Gambhir, while retaining the combination of left-right batsmen, batted him at number five and put pressure on the opposition teams by bowling over his quota.
In this tournament, he stayed above KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya in many matches, which shows how much the Indian team management trusts their batting. Akshar Patel has scored 80 runs in four matches, with his best innings against New Zealand 42 runs. Hardik Pandya scored 81 runs.
Patel also scored 27 runs against Australia. Not only this, he has also taken five wickets in this tournament. For India, Mohammed Shami has taken eight wickets and Varun Chakraborty has taken seven wickets. The team management’s decision to replace Akshar at number five in place of veteran Rahul was risky but he proved it right.
Reached letter number 5
Akshar has been regularly batting at number five against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year since the second ODI. He scored 44 runs in the first match itself. This combination proved to be very important for India as Rishabh Pant was not playing as a wicketkeeper of Rahul’s first choice.
Useful for finals
India will face Kiwi team in the final. His former captain Kane Williamson will be a big threat between India and the trophy. He was also in a close match against India in the group phase match but Akshar stumped him out. Chasing a target of 250 runs, Williamson was playing for 81 runs.
He decided to play a long shot on Akshar’s ball but the ball cheated him and wicketkeeper KL Rahul took advantage of it. This was the last ball of the letter’s 10 -over quota, which turned the match in favor of India.
The letter changed his image.
How strong the letters are proving to be all -rounder, it can be gauged from the fact that he has bowled 37 overs out of 40 overs of his quota in four matches. In this, he has given 167 runs from only 4.51 economy.
Akshar was initially considered to be a bowling all -rounder, but he worked on his batting since 2022 and when the team management sent him to bat at number five, he fully lived the expectations. Earlier, Akshar had indicated improving his batting by scoring an unbeaten 64 against the West Indies in Barbados.
Nothing to prove – letters
Akshar said, ‘After that match against the West Indies, I started feeling that I could finish the match well. “When I got confidence, I stopped thinking more about whether I had to prove anything about my batting or not.”
Gautam Gambhir said, ‘We know the ability and ability of the letter and we have given him constant opportunities to bat at number five so that he continues to perform well. Ever since he started batting at number five, he has contributed well.
Rohit Sharma said, ‘Before the ODI series against England, a clear message was given to the letter that no matter what the situation is, they have to bat at number five. Since last year, he has improved his batting a lot and hence we felt that we can take advantage of his batting in the middle order.
