TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: Just when the ring of fire was lit in its full glory, the Indian cricket team was applying the final touches to their preparations for the Champions Trophy and opener against Bangladesh. The batters were knocking a few deliveries, all bowlers rolled their arm over on the available practice strip and everyone took turns for some catching to get used to the lights.
Just when the players started making their way to the dressing room after finishing their routines, two intense chats began around 7 pm local time (half an hour after the scheduled end of training session).
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Near the playing square were coach Gautam Gambhir and Ravindra Jadeja while Rohit Sharma had Axar Patel and video analyst Hari Prasad Mohan for company in front of the dressing room. The two vital cogs of India’s white-ball setup were in separate discussions which lasted well over 30 minutes.
The coach kept pointing towards different parts of the ground while talking to Jadeja and captain Rohit had a more animated discussion with Axar where a lot of video footage was being used as reference.
(PTI Photo)
Analyst Hari kept playing visuals from different ODIs on his laptop and Rohit was even imitating Axar’s release during their chat as the training session was in its final stages. Both Axar and Jadeja have a very similar skillset but are unique in their own way.
The management trusts their abilities so much that both featured in the XI during the 2024 T20 World Cup, and it’s set to continue during the 2025 Champions Trophy. They can bat anywhere you want, bowl anytime the situation demands and are electric in the field.
More than anything, they lend control with their darts which have often suck momentum out of the opposition’s innings.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the men’s senior selection committee picked five spinners in the squad for the multi-nation event but captain Rohit Sharma explained the move and asserted there are just “two spinners”.
(TOI photo)
“There are two spinners, the other three are all-rounders. I am not looking at them as five spinners. Those three guys can bat and can bowl also. The other teams have fast bowlers and all-rounders. They say that they have six fast bowlers, which is good. But we work on our strength and try to run the team on that,” said Rohit at pre-match presser.
The Indian captain further added that the all-round abilities of Jadeja, Axar and Washington Sundar add a different dimension and a lot of depth to the combination.
“Those three guys, Jadeja, Axar, Washi [Washington Sundar], give us a different dimension to the game, to our combination, to our squad. And they add a lot to this team and give us a lot of depth. That is why we wanted to try and get the players who can have two skills rather than one skill,” added Rohit.
India do look heavy on spin but depth was the keyword when the squad was assembled. Axar and Jadeja’s skill set would make it difficult for any think-tank to look beyond them, and this Indian team is no different. They both are left-armers, effective batters, useful contributors but even after the similarities, they are different, and will continue to be the first names on the team sheet.