Axar Patel lauded India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, after the Men in Blue defeated the Kiwis to claim the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy. The all-rounder praised the Indian team management’s strategy of including four spinners in the side and was thoroughly impressed by Rohit’s ability to use his players.
In an interaction with broadcasters after the match, Axar delved into India’s four spinners strategy, saying, “When we were coming to the tournament, everyone felt that we had too many spinners, and there was even talk that we had 4-5 spinners, why do we need so many spinners. But today, when you look at the results, and even after the first two matches, everyone must have realized how important that decision was.”
Notably, India named four spinners in their 15-member provisional squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav. However, the team management later replaced opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with Varun Chakravarthy.
While Chakravarthy missed the first two matches of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, he was included in the XI from the New Zealand match onward. His selection paid dividends, as the mystery spinner went on to take nine wickets.
Axar Patel lauds Rohit Sharma
While lauding coach Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma after the match, Axar said, “I believe that the decision taken by the captain (Rohit Sharma) and the coach (Gautam Gambhir) was made after a lot of thought, and today, when the results are in, it is truly a cause for celebration. ”
Speaking in Hindi, Axar said, “Aur kaptani ki baat kare to obviously unko pata hai ke kis player ko kahan pe use krna hai aur wo hi ek ache kaptaan ki khaasiyat hoti hai. Haat me trophy hai usse zyada kaptaani ki kya tareef kare. 2 baar ICC me lagatar champion bana diya hai (And when it comes to captaincy, he (Rohit) knows exactly where to use each player – that is the hallmark of a great captain. With the trophy in hand, what more can one say about his captaincy? He has led the team to become ICC champions consecutively.)”
