3 min readFeb 25, 2026 12:06 PM IST
Former India coach Ravi Shastri and ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting have made the case for the Indian team think tank to bring back vice captain Axar Patel in the XI for the Super 8 game against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup. Axar was dropped in favour of Washington Sundar in their first Super 8 clash with South Africa, where the Men in Blue were thumped by 76 runs by the Proteas.
Shastri believes that the defeat will get India to “rethink their strategy about the composition of the side”. Australian cricket legend Ponting agreed.
“Listening to the commentary (for the India vs South Africa game), the reason Axar didn’t play is because of the left handers in the opposition side. But there’s still some right handers there. It just comes down to the art of the captain of being able to use Axar at the right time,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
The Aussie urged India to “go back to basics” for their next Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday and the Sunday contest against the West Indies in Kolkata.
“I would be going back to the basics. I’d be just looking at their lineup. Who’s our best XI for the conditions in Chennai?” added Ponting. “If that has Axar Patel in it, great. If it has Kuldeep Yadav in it, that’s the other one that I’d be thinking about bringing back because it doesn’t matter with him if it’s left-hand or right-hand. He can bowl wrong ones and spin the ball away from the left-hand outside edge of both those batters.”
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India vs South Africa T20 World Cup 2026 Live Streaming: Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel will be in focus for IND vs SA Super 8 match in Ahmedabad. (AP Photo)
Shastri also believes that India could do well with having one more spinner in their XI.
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“I think they have to bring him (Axar Patel) back. You need that experience,” Shastri said. “I would say play both (Patel and Sundar). Give yourself that extra option. Because on a given day, you’re bound to have one bowler who’s going to have an off day. Like for example, Varun Chakravarthy on Sunday. He was not at his best and he paid the price for it. If Axar Patel is playing, he might be batting at No. 8. You have Hardik Pandya at No. 5, you’ve got Shivam Dube at No. 6, you’ve got Washington Sundar at No. 7. Axar can go at No. 5 as well.
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“Now, if eight batters can’t do the job in T20 cricket, then something’s wrong, especially with that kind of firepower. Where you’re missing out is you’re not giving yourself that extra option of a bowler, which I think is important. Rinku Singh might have to miss out. But if he has to come in, he has to come in place of a specialist batter,” Shastri concluded.
