T20 World Cup 2026: 'Someone who goes under the radar' - Irfan Pathan's massive praise for Team India star after comprehensive win vs Namibia
"If we see this game, he had conceded 14 runs in the first over and went for two sixes. But Axar made a good comeback and took two wickets by the end of his spell," Irfan Pathan said.
Irfan Pathan heaped praise on Indian all-rounder Axar Patel for his stellar performance against Namibia in the T20 World Cup 2026 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, February 12.
While Axar fell for a golden duck with the bat and conceded two sixes in his opening over, the 32-year-old bounced back strongly to finish with figures of 2/20. Axar bowled three overs in the game and managed to sneak in a wicket-maiden on a belter of a track.
Pathan said that Axar's ability to redeem himself after a setback makes him special. The former India all-rounder suggested that moving Axar up the batting order could be beneficial for the Men in Blue.
"A major positive is Axar Patel. He is someone who goes under the radar when it comes to bowling. If we see this game, he had conceded 14 runs in the first over and went for two sixes. But Axar made a good comeback and took two wickets by the end of his spell. He bowls extremely well and knows how to come back. You want that mindset in a player along with skill level and Axar has that. I also expect him to do well with the bat and moving Axar to the top will be beneficial," Pathan said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.
Pathan opined that Varun Chakaravarthy's performance was the biggest positive for India from their 93-run win against Gerhard Erasmus' men. The mystery spinner bowled just two overs and gave away seven runs, picking up three wickets. His spell disrupted the momentum that Namibia had built inside the powerplay during their pursuit of a 210-run target.
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"It was a solid win but there are positive and negative takeaways out of this game. Varun Chakaravarthy is arguably the biggest positive. He is their biggest perspective from the perspective of this World Cup. Namibia were chasing 210 and had made 57 runs in the powerplay. It was a decent start but things changed and had to," Pathan said.
"Chakaravarthy picked up a wicket off his first ball, he bowled only two overs and gave away hardly any runs but picked up three scalps. Reading his spin or solving this mystery is not the job of the associate nation. It was visible and Namibia didn't have answers. It was fun to watch them in the powerplay but the turn from the wicket troubled them," he added.
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