Axar Patel opens up on ODI World Cup snub

Axar Patel who was not a part of Indias World Cup squad expressed that he was upset for not securing a place in the squad and it took him a week to get over that disappointment Axar missed out due to a left quadricep injury which he faced during Asia Cup 2023 and veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replaced him in the squadAfter World Cup snub Axar is eager to feature in the T20 World Cup which will begin in West Indies and USA next year The preparation for the same has already begun the allrounder mentionedAlso ReadBatsmen with most runs in a calendar yearAllrounder Axar Patel was unable to put on an impressive show with the willow but helped India to defend the target later in the second innings Patel dismissed three of Australias batting mainstays including World Cup final centurion Travis Head Including the wicket of Head Patel later went on to dismiss Ben McDermott and Aaron Hardie Axar Patel shone by conceding just 16 runs in his fourover spell Men in Blue won the match by 20 runs and claimed the series win against the AussiesObviously you are bound to be disappointed The World Cup was in India but that injury happened For the first few days I was thinking about it not being able to play due to injury Axar told reporters during the postmatch press conferenceAlso ReadIND vs AUS 4th T20I Star performers for IndiaBut the team was doing well so after 510 days I was back to training and was doing my rehab But yes when you are out due to injury and those 510 days you are not able to do anything you do feel a bit bad After that I returned to routine lifeI was upset but it happened due to an injury its not in anyones hands Its part and parcel of the gameAxar made an impressive return to international cricket claiming five wickets in the series so far with his threewicket haul setting up the 20run win for India in the fourth T20I here on Friday nightIf you are away from international cricket for some time due to injury and then come back you try to prove yourself and you also have to look after your body so I also took one match at a time he saidWhen you come from injury you try to keep that part of the body safe You are not able to give your full effort It stays in the back of my mindIt doesnt happen in that way because the trainer already tells you that nothing will happen but while sprinting you feel what if something happens again to the quadricepBut the first couple of matches I was back to routine Now I dont feel anything like that and the work that I put in the last oneandahalf months I am reaping the reward now so I am happy overallBefore the T20 World Cup I dont think India has a lot of T20 games scheduled maybe 910 matches So we have to plan from now and prepare as there is the World Cup in June and then there is IPL in between so the planning is going on he saidAll the players have been told about their respective roles in what position they will play and once Rahul Dravid sir is back there will be a detailed discussion but we know what we have to do in this series so there is no confusionAxar who has taken 44 wickets in 49 T20Is was omitted from the T20I squad for the upcoming South Africa tour with Ravindra Jadeja replacing himAsked if he was fired up due to the snub Axar said It is not like that if I would have gone for runs then you would have said that I was upset I was normalthere was nothing in my mind that I have to prove myself for that I have been doing well and this is not my decision and I didnt think much about that I am just happy I got wickets todayI didnt change my bowling much There was dew in the last three matches so we were bowling back of length but there was no dew today so we could give the ball flight as the seam was not too wet he saidThere was grass on the pitch so some balls were skidding so they were facing difficulties I have also been varying my pace for the last three matches sometimes going for a few slower ones in betweenPartnership with Ravi BishnoiAxar formed a formidable leftright spin combination with young Ravi Bishnoi who produced figures of 40171Throughout the series he has been bowling well His speed has been troubling the Australians especially his googly and he has been working on his leg spinWith PTI Inputs