IND vs ENG: Cricket-Loving Dad Preferred Cricket To Academics For Axar Patel

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel's father was a rare parent in Nadiad town of Gujarat who let his son opt for cricket despite him being a bright student and a rank holder in school. Among the parents o

But when Axar returned, he asked him to tear off a page where he had noted down the instructions to give the ball air and flight.

"His coach there (at NCA) had told him to go to his local center and practice by keeping two poles some distance from the stumps and putting a string to connect the poles. He was told to practice bowling above the string. The ball was supposed to go above the string," said Patel.

"I was quite enthusiastic and keen to learn this method. I did the arrangements at the nets. I also told the wicket-keeper to keep count of deliveries [that went above the string]. He bowled a few balls, and only a rare ball would go just above the string or even touch it," added Patel who immediately told him to tear the page from the diary and focus on his natural style.

Patel then asked Axar to stick to his natural bowling. "He looked messed up and lost while doing that. I told him to forget it and return to a natural style. Told him to tear that page from the diary. I said we will find two-three stock balls with the advice of some coach. If a bowler can't perform naturally, how will he bowl," added the coach?

As Axar graduated from the state team he began learning more and more but stuck to his strength of accuracy. With the T20 format becoming important, that helped in him becoming an important bowler for India.

"There are many great coaches he met later who improved and polished him," said Patel. Axar debuted for Gujarat in Ranji Trophy in 2012 and made his India debut in an ODI in June 2014 in Dhaka. He made his T20I debut in July 2015.

It took Axar another half a decade to make his Test debut, due to the presence of Ravindra Jadeja, who has the same skill-sets. Irrespective of the time it took for him to get the break, it was a Test debut he - and his father - would be proud of.