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Is Axar a Better Bet Than Jadeja in Shorter Formats?

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.

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The Indian Cricket team is blessed to have someone like Axar Patel as a back-up option for Ravindra Jadeja. He is completely a like-for-like replacement for the Saurashtra southpaw. Both of them bat left-handed and bowl slow left arm-orthodox. Moreover, both have supreme big hitting abilities with the bat and are superb fielders as well.

Jadeja is now at the pinnacle of success as he has been rated as the top bowler and all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings. In the past couple of years, he has established himself as an integral part of the Indian Test team with the help of his all-round abilities.

Even though his performances in limited-overs cricket haven’t been on the same scales as that in Tests, he has gone on to be a regular part in the shorter formats.

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However, with him now being rested in some of the limited-overs series in the past few years, Axar Patel’s potential as a better limited-overs player has come to the fore. Jadeja might edge him out in terms of big hitting abilities and his athletic presence in the field. However, statistics tell a different story when their bowling records, in both international and domestic matches, are being compared.

It is true that Axar is nowhere near to Jadeja in terms of experience. The 23-year old Gujarat all-rounder has only played 31 ODIs and 7 T20Is as compared to Jadeja’s 136 ODIs and 40 T20Is respectively.

However, the potential that Axar has shown as a bowler in little time suggests that he can prove to be an excellent all round asset in limited-overs cricket when coupled with his decent bating and fielding abilities.

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.
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An analysis of their ODI bowling statistics reveals that Axar has a far better average, strike rate and economy rate than Jadeja. It is not that Axar’s better statistics have been helped by matches played against minnows like West Indies and Zimbabwe. In fact, he has played against all Test playing nations except Pakistan and has been consistent against all those teams as a bowler.

A comparison of his T20I bowling stat with that of Jadeja won’t be fair as Axar has played 5 out of his 7 T20Is against Zimbabwe, whereas Jadeja has played 40 T20Is till date against tough opponents.

Still his spell of 1/17 in his three overs against South Africa at Cuttack in 2015 showed that he is up there to compete against bigger teams as well.

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.
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Since Axar doesn’t have as much experience as Jadeja has, an analysis of their overall List A and T20 records will give us more clarity.

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.

Their List A record clearly shows how the Gujarat all-rounder edges out India’s premier Test all-rounder in terms of his bowling. Along with the wicket-taking ability, what Axar has is his ability to control the flow of runs and tie the batsmen down.

We have often seen Jadeja getting belted for runs and that is visible in his higher bowling average, economy and strike rate. The reason is his flat bowling trajectory and predictable length.

Axar, on the other hand, has a loopy action in general and varies it up with the occasional flatter ones and change in lengths. He also gets the ball to turn more than that of Jadeja sometimes and that is a big attribute. A comparison of their overall T20 bowling statistics will also suggest the same facts.

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.
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The overall T20 bowling statistic comparison clears all doubts whatsoever about who is the better bowler among the two. The difference between the number of T20s played and wickets taken for Jadeja is huge as he has only 124 scalps in 196 T20 appearances. But Axar has displayed his consistency with 84 wickets in as many T20s, that too, with a better bowling average, economy and strike rate.

All these numbers justify why he is a better bowler in limited-overs cricket when compared to Jadeja.

The potential shown by Axar Patel in his short career suggests that he can prove to be better than Ravindra Jadeja.
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The above table suggests that Jadeja is a slightly better batsman than Axar Patel. However, India seldom requires Jadeja’s batting abilities as he bats at number 8 or 9.

Most of the times, the top and middle order batsmen do the job. The lower order doesn’t even come into play as a result of India’s world-class batting line-up.

What India really need is a bowler who can pick up wickets consistently in every match. And Axar Patel is exactly that kind of a player. As far as his batting is concerned, he has decent abilities in that department as well.

The only thing that India would miss in Jadeja’s absence would be his athletic and lively presence in the field. He has turned around matches for India single-handedly on many occasions.

Axar may not be as good as Jadeja in fielding, but, he is a safe fielder who seldom commits any error. Moreover, he can make up for Jadeja’s fielding with his superior bowling abilities.

If all-round abilities are considered, Axar Patel definitely appears to be the better limited-overs cricketer than Ravindra Jadeja.

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(Prasenjit Dey is a freelance cricket writer. He can be reached at @Prosen02. The opinions expressed are the author’s own and The Quintneither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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