Axar: When the team needs someone to stand up, they bank on me to deliver

"So many people dream of such things and out of them, we 15 have lived the dream."

It's been three weeks since Axar Patel played a key role - with bat and ball - in India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, but the aftereffects of that memorable day in Barbados continue to ring loud among Indian fans.

This outpouring of love and gratitude is something that Axar is still wrapping his head around. Open-bus parades, felicitations in the hometowns, celebrations that don't seem like stopping any time soon. Has it sunk in yet for Axar that he is now a T20 world champion?

"Not yet to be honest. And even if we want to, the others are not letting us do it. The kind of atmosphere there is, the people are not letting it sink in. The kind of welcome we are getting, the kind of reception we are getting, locally too, is great. It's been really enjoyable these last few days," Axar tells ESPNcricinfo in an interview facilitated by JSW Sports. "I am not much of a social guy. But when I came back, everyone was showing so much love. Even when I came to Gujarat, I think I reached home after 12am, and even then, people came in huge numbers to meet me. It was incredible.

"That is when I thought how much craze there is for cricket in this country. It felt that along with us the entire country and the people have won this trophy. I feel fortunate and I am glad to witness these things."

Going back three weeks things could have been much different for India if not for Axar's timely 31-ball 47 at a critical juncture. Batting first in the final, three of India's top four were back in the shed inside the first five overs. That meant a promotion almost out of the blue for Axar. He had been asked to bat at No. 4 in an earlier group game against Pakistan, but to be promoted in the final, with his side in trouble, was a test of his mental aptitude.

Axar says the key to that innings was to not second-guess himself and opt for a simple see-ball, hit-ball approach.

"I came to know about the promotion barely four or five balls before I went out to bat," Axar says. "It wasn't that long. When Rishabh [Pant] got out, I was asked to get ready and I think in the next over itself Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] got out.

"I wasn't nervous. Obviously, there is pressure on you, but at the time, I didn't understand how to react. I don't think when I went to bat there was anything going on in my mind. I had gone with a see-ball, hit-ball mindset. I was not thinking about anything, not worrying about the consequences, there were no second thoughts in my mind.

"I consistently communicated with Virat [Kohli] bhai, so I didn't feel that I have come in early and that I have to do something different. I kept talking with Virat bhai and we communicated clearly about what we have to do."

Axar's role in the Indian side is of a spin-bowling allrounder who can be useful with the bat lower down the order. But his batting has been on an upswing, especially in the last year or so. In IPL 2024, he was often employed as a floater, at times coming in at No. 3 or 4 for Delhi Capitals, and that's a role he has been asked to do in the Indian team as well of late.

Not having a permanent batting position in a line-up can be off-putting for a player, but not for Axar who sees being a floater in a positive way.

"Every batsman likes to have a fixed batting position because it becomes a bit easy for him to plan for his role. But as a floater, I feel that the captain and coach trust you which is why they are sending you in tough situations. I am taking that in a positive way," he says. "When the team needs someone to stand up, they are banking on me to deliver. That means they have seen something in me. When the team trusts you to deliver in such crunch situations, you start trusting yourself even more automatically. And once you deliver in one or two matches, it gives your confidence a different sort of boost altogether.

"It is not as if this has happened just once or twice. I have been asked to perform this role for Delhi Capitals and other teams as well. After a point, you get used to it and it doesn't matter which position you are batting in. You are confident in batting in any position and you know what to do in that situation."

But how does Axar classify himself, as a batting allrounder or a bowling allrounder?

"Jis din jo chal gaya, woh allrounder ban jata hoon main (Whatever works for me on a given day, I become that variety of allrounder)," he says with a smile. "If my bowling clicks, I am a bowling allrounder; if the batting clicks, then batting allrounder. I started off as a batsman, so I think I like my batting more. In the last two or three years, the kind of batting I have been doing, I feel I am now capable. I was not doing justice to my batting in the earlier years."

India will next be travelling for a three-game T20I and ODI series to Sri Lanka and Axar is part of both squads. The T20I leg will mark Suryakumar's first stint as full-time T20I captain after Rohit Sharma retired from the format, and also Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as India head coach.

Axar, who played five T20Is against Australia under Suryakumar's leadership last year, described him as a "bowler's captain" and one who likes to keep the "atmosphere lively and cool."

"I have spent a lot of time with Suryakumar. Surya bhai is a happy-go-lucky guy. He keeps the atmosphere lively, loves doing mimicry and such fun stuff. I know he will keep the atmosphere cool," Axar says. "I recently played a five-game T20I series when he was the captain. I know he is a bowler's captain. He gives the bowlers the fields they ask for. And it was like that with me, too. I don't think there will be a lot of change. We will get to know now playing under his captaincy about his mindset. You can't judge someone's captaincy by one tour. When we play more, we will get to know more of his captaincy style.

"With Gautam bhai, yes, we will go to Sri Lanka, there will be meetings, we will exchange a few thoughts and after that I will get to know exactly what my role is and what he thinks. I will get more clarity on that only after that."

Axar made his India debut back in 2014, and in ten years, he has only played 14 Tests, 57 ODIs and 60 T20I games. But finally, after all these years, he seems to have found a permanent spot at least in the white-ball scheme of things. Ravindra Jadeja's retirement from T20Is makes Axar the leading spin-bowling allrounder in the format, as he was selected ahead of Jadeja for the ODI series for Sri Lanka as well.

Axar, however, isn't looking too far ahead of himself and wants to focus on short-term goals.

"I can only set my goals based on the kind of role I am expected to perform. It shouldn't happen that I am asked to perform some role and my goals don't align with it," he says. "I don't believe in long-term planning. I just look at the present, what's in front of me and just the short-term goals is what I look at."