‘You said I got fired up because I wasn’t picked. If I bowled poorly...': Axar's terrific response after SA T20Is snub

Team India's star spinner Axar Patel had endured a heartbreak days before the ODI World Cup in October-November, when an injury ruled him out of the marquee tournament. Axar had sustained the injury during Asia Cup, where India had won the title defeating Sri Lanka in the final; in the end, he couldn't win the race against time to be fit enough for the World Cup and veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replaced him in the 15-member squad. During the course of the tournament, Axar made a return to cricket in domestic circuit and eventually made a comeback to the side in the T20I series against Australia.

Following a stellar performance in the fourth T20I of the series – where he took 3 wickets for just 16 runs in four overs – Axar addressed the post-match press conference where he spoke about the injury-forced absence at the World Cup. The left-arm spinner admitted that he was upset after missing out on the tournament at home, and it took him about a week to get over the disappointment and focus on recovery.

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"Obviously, 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.

“But, the team was doing well, so after 5-10 days, I was back to training and was doing my rehab. But, yes, when you are out due to injury and those 5-10 days you are not able to do anything, you do feel a bit bad. After that, I returned to routine life.”

Axar may have returned in Indian colours but in the upcoming tour of South Africa, the bowling all-rounder didn't find a place in the T20I squad. He was, however, named in ODIs.

“This is not in my hands. You're saying I got fired up because my name isn't in the squad, but it can also be the opposite... if I had bowled poorly, you would have said I was upset! So, it goes both ways. It wasn't anything like that, I was normal. Squad selection wasn't in my mind, I had been giving my best all this time. It isn't my decision, it's the selector's decision. I was only following the processes that I followed in past 3 games,” said Axar.

The final T20I of the five-match series takes place in Bengaluru on Sunday.