'Hope Axar Patel Was Informed About His Removal': Ex-India Star Slams Selection
Mohammad Kaif hopes Axar Patel was informed about his removal as T20I vice-captain before Ajit Agarkar announced Shubman Gill for the role in Asia Cup 2025.
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif hopes all-rounder Axar Patel was informed and explained about his removal from the T20I team's vice-captaincy before chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced Shubman Gill in that role for Asia Cup 2025. Kaif said that Axar 'did no wrong' and deserved to know the reasoning behind the call.
Axar was India's vice-captain the last time they played a T20I series, against England at home in February. Gill wasn't part of that team, just like most of the Test squad that had finished a Test series against Australia weeks ago. After that, he rose to the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2025.
However, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma having established themselves at the top of the order, Gill getting a chance in a multi-nation tournament came as a surprise.
'I hope Axar Patel was informed about his removal from vice-captaincy in advance and he didn't come to know about it from the press conference. Axar did no wrong so he deserves an explanation," Kaif posted on X.
Agarkar, on his part, suggested that Axar as was only a stop-gap vice-captain.
'He was the vice-captain when we played in Sri Lanka. But after that, he was busy with Test cricket," Agarkar said. 'We obviously see some leadership qualities in him, and his form in England was what we were hoping for. He exceeded all our expectations, which is a great sign when there's so much pressure as captain."
According to a report in The Indian Express, however, Gill was not a straightforward first-choice for Agarkar and Co. and it was only after a push from head coach Gautam Gambhir, who wanted to groom a future captain under Suryakumar Yadav, that the decision was taken.
India's squad for 2025 Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
Standbys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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