Akshar Patel – The next breed of Indian stars!
He was named the best Under-19 cricketer by the BCCI for the 2012-13 season. After that, his performance with Kings XI Punjab brought him the Emerging Player trophy for the 2014 edition of IPL. He took a five-wicket haul in his second only first-class match against Delhi last year; whilst his performance with the Under-23 team helped India win the 2013 ACC Emerging Teams Cup.
Coming from the ranks of Junior cricket with gradual transformation to the Senior side, Gujarat’s Akshar Patel has a lot to promise with both bat and ball.
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| Akshar Patel of Kings XI Punjab with his team-mate David Miller |
An admirer of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, cricket never came as the first choice to the lanky southpaw spinner. When Akshar expressed his wish to become an engineer, it was actually his father who forced him to play cricket seriously.
Since his First-Class debut in 2012 to the ongoing India-Sri Lanka series, he capitalized the chances given to him. Be it the 2013/14 Ranji season with Gujarat or the debut IPL season with KXIP this year – his performance in the One Day Internationals made everyone a fan of him.
He has 29 First-Class wickets to his name with an impressive economy of 2.10 whereas his best bowling figure stands at 7/75 – all that from just 8 matches.
Talk about his performance in the shortest format of the game, his bowling average falls at 22.52 in comparison with 24.10 that he manages in the First-Class cricket.
While his bowling records impress equally in the List A career, his batting ability lower-down the order often comes handy. It was seen during the Quadrangular series finale – in August this year – where he and Rishi Dhawan paired to add 93 runs for the seventh wicket that thumped Australia A in a close encounter at Marrara Oval in Australia.
The same kind of hitting he did during the 1st ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Barabati Stadium of Cuttack: scored 14 off just 4 balls that he faced, out of which two went on for sixes as India put 363/5 on board after brilliant centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket.
His bowling figure of 3/40 in the 3rd ODI at Hyderabad even left R Ashwin shy of him who managed just one at the expense of 43 runs. Note that Akshar Patel bowled a maiden over too.
At the age of just 20, Akshar Patel, however, has had a brilliant start to his career. While it may be too early to comment on his all-rounding ability, especially his comparison with Ravindra Jadeja for an ODI slot, performing at the international level is one thing and staying there while improvising your own game is another.
But when he said “I have set a goal, to play for India when I am 23 or 24, and I am working towards that” in an interview last year, it can be assumed he knows his game even better.
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This article also published on Kings XI Punjab's Official Website - kxip.in !
Since his First-Class debut in 2012 to the ongoing India-Sri Lanka series, he capitalized the chances given to him. Be it the 2013/14 Ranji season with Gujarat or the debut IPL season with KXIP this year – his performance in the One Day Internationals made everyone a fan of him.
He has 29 First-Class wickets to his name with an impressive economy of 2.10 whereas his best bowling figure stands at 7/75 – all that from just 8 matches.
Talk about his performance in the shortest format of the game, his bowling average falls at 22.52 in comparison with 24.10 that he manages in the First-Class cricket.
While his bowling records impress equally in the List A career, his batting ability lower-down the order often comes handy. It was seen during the Quadrangular series finale – in August this year – where he and Rishi Dhawan paired to add 93 runs for the seventh wicket that thumped Australia A in a close encounter at Marrara Oval in Australia.
The same kind of hitting he did during the 1st ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Barabati Stadium of Cuttack: scored 14 off just 4 balls that he faced, out of which two went on for sixes as India put 363/5 on board after brilliant centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket.
His bowling figure of 3/40 in the 3rd ODI at Hyderabad even left R Ashwin shy of him who managed just one at the expense of 43 runs. Note that Akshar Patel bowled a maiden over too.
At the age of just 20, Akshar Patel, however, has had a brilliant start to his career. While it may be too early to comment on his all-rounding ability, especially his comparison with Ravindra Jadeja for an ODI slot, performing at the international level is one thing and staying there while improvising your own game is another.
But when he said “I have set a goal, to play for India when I am 23 or 24, and I am working towards that” in an interview last year, it can be assumed he knows his game even better.
—
This article also published on Kings XI Punjab's Official Website - kxip.in !
