Axar Patel needs to take 14 wickets in India’s upcoming Test against Sri Lanka to equal his all-time record.
In the upcoming Test match against Sri Lanka, Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner, has been chosen in India’s team and if selected, Axar would have a chance to equal a record that has stood for over 133 years in Test cricket. Indian cricketers will get a chance to wrap off their two-match series against Pakistan when Rohit Sharma’s team plays in the day and night Test match at Edgbaston.
It is possible that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja use Axar in place of Jayant Yadav, the third spinner India used in the first Test match.
During the home series against England, Axar weaved a web around the English batsmen, taking 27 wickets and helping India recover. In the first innings of the first Test in Kanpur, he faced New Zealand and took a wicket in the fourth wicket in the first innings. As a result, Axar was well on his way to becoming the Test cricketer with the fastest 50-wicket haul.
The next three innings yielded only four wickets, bringing Axar’s wicket tally to 36 after five Test matches.
Charles Turner of Australia took six Test matches to take the fastest 50 wickets in Test cricket history in the year 1880.
Vernon Philander of South Africa came close to matching or breaking the record, but in his seventh Test, he hit the 50-wicket mark.
You can’t match the record if you don’t get 14 wickets in your next Test match.
Axar may or may not be selected for the match, and even if he is, he will have heavy competition from Ashwin and Jadeja, both of whom have a reputation for taking wickets in their own backyard.
This would be an opportunity for Axar as the third-choice spinner to establish his spot in the team when India plays at home.
