India’s seven-run victory over England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup had many heroes—such as Sanju Samson (89 off 42 balls with the bat) and Jasprit Bumrah (economy rate of 8.25 in a game where 499 runs were scored)—but vice-captain Axar Patel’s role in two of the best catches of the year became a highlight.
Axar took the first catch in the fifth over while he was fielding on point. After Bumrah deceived Harry Brook with a change of pace, the England skipper miscued his shot. The ball went high in the air and stayed there for 5.4 seconds. Axar had to run towards the ropes, with his head tilted back, eyes trained on the ball before completing a catch with a dive. What made the catch difficult was that the ball fell to the ground over his shoulder while he was running.
In the 14th over, Axar bettered that effort with a catch where he won’t technically be credited. England’s Will Jacks slashed at a wide full toss from Arshdeep Singh. The ball seemed destined for the boundary ropes when Axar, who was fielding in deep cover, ran to his left and caught the ball without breaking his stride. He was completely off balance when he took the catch. In fact, he had just one foot on the ground when he clasped the ball. He took about five steps towards the ropes, not completely in balance on any one of them. And when it became apparent that he was going to topple over the ropes, he lobbed the ball to Shivam Dube for what would be the easiest catch of Dube’s career.
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After all the hard work from Axar, it was Dube who would end up on the scorecard as the catcher for that.
Afterwards, when Axar was discussing those two catches with former India cricketer Parthiv Patel on JioHotstar, Axar picked the catch of Brook as his favourite one. Here’s Axar’s explanation about why he preferred the first catch to the one that the world is talking about.
“The catch of Brook was one of my most favourite catches because I was running away from the wicket. Taking a catch like that is one of the most difficult things to do. Your vision on the ball is a little shaky. If you look at the replay of the catch, I took a small pause right before taking the catch. That’s how I could catch it (and not overrun the ball). It’s one of my most favourite catches because it was a pressure situation,” Axar told Parthiv Patel before talking about the second catch.
“The other catch, I was running sideways, but for the first one, I was running away. The second catch was important too, because breaking the partnership was very important. I initially thought I wouldn’t get there, but then realised I could reach. Credit should also go to Shivam because he hung back and did not charge into me.
“When I took that catch, I had noticed from the corner of my eye that I was running towards the boundary ropes. It was a fraction-of-a-second decision,” Axar added.
