Axar Patel has no place in test side

[Lord]

Not sure how he got back in first place.

 

Team was fine with Sundar as support spinner. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

6 minutes ago, Lord said:

Not sure how he got back in first place.

 

Team was fine with Sundar as support spinner. 

Suddenly they remembered England 2021

[Gollum]

Absolute rubbish bowling. Captain a bigger ullu ka pattha for giving him the ball ahead of KD/Bumrah/Siraj/Washi. 

[BCCISelector]

4 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Suddenly they remembered England 2021

Didn't he fail against England in 2024 and also against Australia in 2023.. They should just let him focus on white ball formats at this point.

Maybe it is Gambhir's obsession for matchups (SLAs against right-hander heavy lineup). In that case, they could have tried a youngster like Harsh Dubey or Manav Suthar. Even if the youngster has a bad game, the team has three other spinners in the XI.

Edited November 17, 2025 by BCCISelector

[BCCISelector]

16 hours ago, putrevus said:

when did Jurel prove himself to play as batsman alone.

2024 Ranchi Test vs England - he played a gem in both innings. India would have surely lost that game by a big margin if any other batter was playing. The series would be 2-2, and who knows what would have happened in the 5th Test if it became a decider.

[lemsip]

40 minutes ago, BCCISelector said:

2024 Ranchi Test vs England - he played a gem in both innings. India would have surely lost that game by a big margin if any other batter was playing. The series would be 2-2, and who knows what would have happened in the 5th Test if it became a decider.

Yes he played good innings in his debut series. But it was in Feb 2024 - coming up to 2 years now. He's played well in the domestic opportunities he's had but he has also had a number of opportunities in the test squad at home and abroad. He hasn't shown anything noteworthy as a batsman and at best he is an adequate keeper. Sarfaraz - a proper full time batsman- has been dumped out of the system in the meantime. The whole process seems to be random and cluttered.

Edited November 17, 2025 by lemsip

[BCCISelector]

10 minutes ago, lemsip said:

Yes he played good innings in his debut series. But it was in Feb 2024 - coming up to 2 years now. He's played well in the domestic opportunities he's had but he has also had a number of opportunities in the test squad at home and abroad. He hasn't shown anything noteworthy as a batsman and at best he is an adequate keeper. Sarfaraz - a proper full time batsman- has been dumped out of the system in the meantime. The whole process seems to be random and cluttered.

Jurel has earned it tbh, especially with his recent form. He also looks the least fluttered under pressure, which is a rarity in our team filled with mental midgets.

Sarfaraz has himself to blame after his twin failures in Mumbai Test (and a few other failures before that). He's also not in good form currently in Ranji Trophy. I hope India considers Gaikwad or Nair for the Guwahati Test based on recent form.

[vvvslaxman]

Axar patel is inferior version of Jadeja.  WHy would you have two left arm spinners in the side in similar mould. 

[putrevus]

12 hours ago, bowl_out said:

That's the whole point. If Sundar was playing, he should have bowled. Axar should have been a backup for Jadeja/Sundar. Didn't merit a place when both Sundar and Jadeja were playing.

 

 

 

Jurel proved himself with the bat in England although not as a pure batsman. He was picked in this match as a batsman purely because of his current form with back-to-back hundreds vs SA A. But yeah, questionable if he should be picked ahead of Sai/Devdutt. But again, his selection isn't competing with Axar's

No Sundar is not number 3 and Jurel cannot be in the same team when Pant is there.

 

You don't fill batting roles with bits and pieces player that too number 3 and number 5.

[bowl_out]

1 minute ago, putrevus said:

No Sundar is not number 3 and Jurel cannot be in the same team when Pant is there.

 

You don't fill batting roles with bits and pieces player that too number 3 and number 5.

 

Where did I say Sundar is a No.3

You should go back and read my post. I was asking for him to bat at 6 below Pant.

 

Why focus these discussions on Sundar and Jurel when this thread is on Axar and I believe both of us are saying Axar shouldn't be in the Test side

[putrevus]

2 minutes ago, bowl_out said:

 

Where did I say Sundar is a No.3

You should go back and read my post. I was asking for him to bat at 6 below Pant.

 

Why focus these discussions on Sundar and Jurel when this thread is on Axar and I believe both of us are saying Axar shouldn't be in the Test side

Jurel is main problem, he should be not in team. Remove Jurel and one among Axar/Sundar, you have a balanced team.

[Gollum]

If you are not convinced with Sarfaraz, at least give him a proper run. An away series (like BGT last year or Eng this summer) and 4-5 tests at home, continuous run. For someone who has dominated domestic cricket to such an extent, how can you not even have him in your squad? In what universe is Padikkal more deserving? 

 

Agarkar too is a pos. 

[Nikhil_cric]

No place for a 6th bowler in any format of cricket. Somebody please beat some sense into GG. 

 

We were 2 batsmen short with Gill also being ruled out. 

Edited November 17, 2025 by Nikhil_cric

[bowl_out]

2 hours ago, putrevus said:

Jurel is main problem, he should be not in team. Remove Jurel and one among Axar/Sundar, you have a balanced team.

 

Aligned on removing Axar.

Jurel as a batsman was an experiment to cash in on his recent form, but it was stupid of the TM if they had request a minefield. It is unlikely that he will be persisted as a pure bat

[bowl_out]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

If you are not convinced with Sarfaraz, at least give him a proper run. An away series (like BGT last year or Eng this summer) and 4-5 tests at home, continuous run. For someone who has dominated domestic cricket to such an extent, how can you not even have him in your squad? In what universe is Padikkal more deserving? 

 

Agarkar too is a pos. 

Looks like Gambhir is calling all the shots and Agarkar/Gill are just pawns in the game.

 

Gambhir as a Test coach is ridiculous. He has zero coaching experience at any level

[lemsip]

This whole bits and piece mindset shows up in team selection in all areas.

They select bowlers based on their batting and batsmen because they can send down a few overs or can provide a backup keeper.

Axar, NKR, Jurel, Sundar etc are all picks based on that mindset. None of them know what their main role is.

The result is you end up with a team without role clarity, random changes and without specialists in key roles. 

[putrevus]

6 minutes ago, bowl_out said:

 

Aligned on removing Axar.

Jurel as a batsman was an experiment to cash in on his recent form, but it was stupid of the TM if they had request a minefield. It is unlikely that he will be persisted as a pure bat

One simple question needs to be asked, is Jurel better batsman than Pant. Answer is no, Pant himself does not get into the team as batsman , question of Jurel being batsman is ridiculous and stupid.

 

 

[bowl_out]

8 minutes ago, putrevus said:

One simple question needs to be asked, is Jurel better batsman than Pant. Answer is no, Pant himself does not get into the team as batsman , question of Jurel being batsman is ridiculous and stupid.

 

 

Not arguing with that. Jurel is the designated back up wicket-keeper

[ungboysj]

I think we are most idiotic team in terms of strategy 

 

Why reinvent the wheel

 

Top 5 should be pure batsman who have played as batsman their whole life and made big hundreds in first class at high average

 

 

Bottom three should be pure strike bowlers

 

Only 6-7-8 you can fill with keeper and all rounders 

 

Even pant is too high at 5 with his high risk game 

 

Do all experiments on 6-8 keep 1-5 and 9-11 stable

[bowl_out]

9 minutes ago, lemsip said:

This whole bits and piece mindset shows up in team selection in all areas.

They select bowlers based on their batting and batsmen because they can send down a few overs or can provide a backup keeper.

Axar, NKR, Jurel, Sundar etc are all picks based on that mindset. None of them know what their main role is.

The result is you end up with a team without role clarity, random changes and without specialists in key roles. 

Exactly. Every player should have a primary role, particularly in Tests.