The T20 World Cup final had many turning points that swung the balance of the game back and forth before finally tilting towards India as they beat South Africa by seven runs to end their wait for an ICC trophy. Virat Kohli launching himself in the last few overs, Jasprit Bumrah finishing his spell before the 20th, Rishabh Pant's break to get treatment on his knees and of course, Suryakumar Yadav's acrobatic catch to dismiss David Miller.

But one move that doesn't get enough credit is the decision to send Axar Patel at No. 5. India had lost captain Rohit Sharma cheaply, and two balls later, Rishabh Pant was out for a first-ball duck. Just when India thought that things couldn't get worse, Suryakumar Yadav, who has a brilliant T20I batting record against South Africa, was back in the hut playing his favourite scoop shot. At 34/3, another top-order collapse looked imminent before Axar took centre stage and played a counter-attacking 47 off 31 balls, including four sixes and a four.

But what propelled the move? Axar had previously batted higher against Pakistan, scoring 20, so it wasn't as if he didn't know what was required. But when it's a World Cup final, even the most confident of cricketers feel the pressure.

"Rohit bhai was standing beside me when Rishabh Pant got out. He told me 'Axar pads pehen le'. After that (Yuzvendra) Chahal came running to tell me that Rahul (Dravid) Bhai wants me to pad up. When I was padding up I did not know what to do. We were two wickets down and I had still not analysed the pitch," Axar told Cricbuzz.

"Next I saw Suryakumar (Yadav) also got out. Things happened so suddenly that I did not have time to think. When I was going down the staircase, Hardik told me in Gujarati not to take any stress. 'Just watch the ball and hit the ball,' he said and it stuck with me."

What Kohli told Axar

The last bit of assurance came from no one but Kohli himself. At 3 down, India had two options: Go back to playing the same defensive cricket which led to their ousters from the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups or continue the way they had played all through this tournament. Thankfully, Axar decided to do the latter, allowing Kohli time and freedom to play himself in.

Axar began with a clip off his pads for four, before smashing Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj for maximums. He was unluckily run out at the non-striker but had done his job, settling the nerves and allowing the next batters Shivam Dube to flex his muscles.

"I hit a boundary off the first ball I faced. I became very confident. I spoke to Virat bhai and he kept guiding me. He said, 'I'm there. If you think that you can hit, then go for it (Axar scored a crucial 47 and added 72 runs with Kohli for the fourth wicket).' The constant communication was helpful. The rest is history," pointed out Axar.

Read Also: why was t20i captain suryakumar not picked for sl odis? how did riyan parag find place in both squads? full details