T20 World Cup: How Dhoni's Advice Transformed Axar Patel's career!

'Play your game. Do not go with the burden that if I get out, I will be a failure.'

India all-rounder Axar Patel revealed how a life-changing advice from the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2021 played a big role in turning around his career.

Axar recalled the chat with Dhoni in October 2021, when the former captain had travelled with the Indian team to UAE as their mentor for the T20 World Cup.

The left-arm spinner, who was picked as the reserve player for the T20 World Cup, was struggling to cement a place in the Indian team, and he decided to have a chat with Dhoni on how to take his career to the next level.
 
"Mahi bhai, in international cricket, I have not been able to prove myself exactly what I can do, especially in batting more than bowling. You have seen me for a long time. What can I do?" Axar told ESPNCricinfo.

Dhoni responded by pointing out that Axar was stuck in a fear of failure after getting out to good deliveries.

"When you came in, you were 19 years old. A few times, you were out early, facing yorkers. I remember watching you get lbw early on to a ball from Dale Steyn that cut in (during an ODI in 2015)," Axar recalled Dhoni as saying.

Dhoni further told the young all-rounder: "'All these things are not leaving your mind - at times you have got out to a good ball, but you are stuck thinking about those failures. When you go to IPL, where you have made runs, you never think about all these things, but as soon as you return to play internationals, you start saying or thinking I have to prove this. I have to tell this person this. I have to play this way'."

What Dhoni told Axar

"So the way you play in domestic freely and make runs in IPL, when you go to internationals, settle down, take singles and doubles, become comfortable and then attack. Play your game. Do not go with the burden that if I get out, I will be a failure if I don't make runs again, because I am playing as an all-rounder. Thinking on those lines, you are adding pressure on yourself."

Axar recalled that when he was dropped from the team in 2018, he worked really hard on his "batting, bowling, fitness, everything" before he was recalled in 2021. These three years saw the all-rounder do some relentless grind in the IPL, domestic competitions and for India A.

"My mind also. I understood that despite not doing anything wrong, I have not been or am not being selected for whatever reason. So what can I do? What can I focus on? Obviously, there was domestic cricket and IPL, so I performed consistently there. The performances in Ranji Trophy, India A and IPL helped me grow in my role, and when I got the call in 2021, things changed," he added.

Since his recall, his numbers as a batter have improved: he has scored 1,983 runs in 123 matches and 99 innings at an average of 26.79 and a strike rate of 79.41, with eight fifties and a best score of 84, playing some excellent knocks for India across all formats. He has also taken 161 wickets at an average of 23.27, five five-wicket hauls and a ten-wicket haul. 

While he was always effective with the ball, Axar has become more consistent with the bat, playing in a variety of roles including pinch-hitter, stabiliser or a spin basher -- be it down the order or in the top six.