Watch: Axar Patel shares heartwarming story from the day he received his maiden India call-up

The left-arm spin all-rounder of the Indian side, Axar Patel, has shared a heartwarming story from the day he was picked in the 15-member squad against Bangladesh in 2014. He revealed how the death of his grandmother saw him take the game in a serious way and eventually featured for the blue brigade.

The veteran Indianplayer has picked 57 wickets and scored 688 runs in 24 innings of the longest format, besides accumulating 858 runs in 49 innings of the ODI games and collecting 75 wickets in 66 innings, besides celebrating three half-centuries at the best score of undefeated 64 runs.

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“When the district-level matches were going on, I was playing for Kheda vs Gandhinagar. I was in Gandhinagar, and the incident happened at 12:00 at night. My grandmother died from a heart attack. I went home and made my dad. That was the first time he hugged me and cried. Everything happened.” Axar shared the story on ESPNcricinfo.

Axar Patel reveals the story of getting maiden call-up for India

Axar was one of the biggest heroes for India’s T20 World Cup 2024 winning campaign. In the shortest format, he has featured in a total of 53 innings to bag 83 wickets in 80 innings at 22.16 and smashed 686 runs at a strike rate of 134.77, thanks to his best score of 65 runs.

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“Then that night, he told me, ‘It was my mother’s wish that you play cricket for India, you will play good cricket, so all I am asking of you is to fulfill her last wish. That was when I actually got serious about cricket. I told dad, ‘I will play for India, at least for one match, just so I will be on TV at least.” Patel addressed.

“I was in Kolkata, playing for the Kings XI Punjab in 2014. It was my first year, and we went to play the Eliminator. I think that was when the Indian team was announced around an hour ago. I was sitting in one corner of the dressing room, and Cheteshwar Pujara made up to me to congratulate me. I took the phone from the manager and called Dad.” The left-arm spin all-rounder concluded.