Best Bowling Performances of Axar Patel in IPL
If a fan has missed the last five years of IPL, he would expect Axar Patel to be a phenomenon by now. Unfortunately for the handy all-rounder, things haven’t quite gone as planned. When Kings XI Punjab bought Axar Patel back in 2014 for just INR 75 lakhs, not much was known about him. But his first season in IPL is precisely what dreams are made of.
He picked 17 wickets and maintained an economy rate of under 7 runs per over. His consistency forced Punjab to retain him for a hefty fee of INR 6.75 crores in 2018. However, that ended up being the worst season of his IPL career. He was subsequently released and bought by Delhi Capitals. The next season will be a season of redemption for the man who does boast of quite a few impressive numbers to his name.
5 Best Bowling Performances of Axar Patel in IPL
Let us have a look at the Top Bowling Performance of Axar Patel in IPL:
5. 2/11 vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Kings XI Punjab‘s time in IPL so far has been a pretty torrid one. They have never quite been favourites to lift the cup, except the fantastic season of 2014. Under George Bailey’s captaincy and buoyed by Axar Patel’s brilliance, Punjab managed to reach the final.
In the Qualifier 1 which they ended up losing, Punjab faced Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR lost skipper Gautam Gambhir soon, but Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa built a solid 65-run partnership. Patel broke the deadlock by dismissing both the batters in the same over. This helped Punjab restrict Kolkata to just 163, but they didn’t manage to chase it down.
Read More: Top 5 bowling performances of Andrew Tye in IPL
4. 2/11 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Top Bowling Performance of Axar Patel in IPL: The second entrant on our list is a spell from 2015, where Punjab hosted Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IS Bindra Stadium. Owing to rain, the game was reduced to 10 overs per innings. Punjab managed to score a fighting 106, but Bangalore’s explosive batting unit were expected to chase that down.
It was Axar Patel who stopped such an occurrence by picking up two crucial wickets. He first got the better of Mr 360° AB de Villiers, and then went on to dismiss Mandeep Singh, who was looking like a real threat with his 13-ball 20. He also conceded only 11 runs from his couple of overs.
Read More: Top 5 Bowling Performances of Mohit Sharma in IPL
3. 3/24 vs Rajasthan Royals
We once again go back to 2014, which testifies what a great season it was for both Kings XI Punjab and Axar Patel Punjab batted first in this game against Rajasthan Royals, and managed to put up an impressive total of 179. Royals had a shaky start to the chase but soon found their footing.
It was a partnership between Brad Hodge and Rahul Tewatia which was propelling Royals towards the victory. Once again, Patel was the saviour as he dismissed both the batters in consecutive overs. He later added to his wickets tally by getting the batter of tail-ender Kevon Cooper.
Read More: Best Bowling Performances of Imran Tahir in IPL
2. 3/11 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
The match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017 is the most recent spell to feature on our list, which speaks volumes about Patel’s dip in form since the 2017 season. In this match, Kings XI Punjab’s batting line-up failed massively at the batting-friendly track of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. They could only score 138 runs.
The possibility of Virat Kohli‘s men failing to score just 139 were slimmer than a hair’s breadth, but Patel did the unthinkable. Bangalore had a poor start to their innings, but then tidied things up. Patel handed them a setback just when they were weaving a comeback, as he dismissed Kedar Jadhav. In a span of three overs, he sent Australian veteran Shane Watson back to the pavilion. Patel completed his 3-wickets haul when he fooled fellow spinner Samuel Badree.
Read More: Top 5 Bowling Performances of Ravichandran Ashwin in IPL
1. 4/21 vs Gujarat Lions
Best Bowling Performances of Axar Patel in IPL thus happened to be the only time he managed to pick up a 4-wickets haul. It was at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, where Kings XI Punjab met Gujarat Lions way back in 2016. Punjab scored only 154 and needed something spectacular from the bowlers.
After the pacers gave Punjab a good start, Patel capitalized on the foundation and preyed on Dwayne Smith in his first over. He then dismissed both Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Bravo on the same over. To hammer the final nail in Lions’ coffin, he picked up the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja four overs later.
