'Team mei jagah ke liye ye sab bhi karna padta hai?' - Axar Patel under fire for praising 'captain' Hardik Pandya in the aftermath of T20I series against SL

The star Indian all-rounder Axar Patel ended up being the player of the series in the recently concluded three-match T20I assignment against Sri Lanka. He made an impact both with the bat and ball in the series scoring 117 runs with the bat in three innings with an average of 117.00 including two unbeaten knocks along with a half-century. He was the third-highest run-scorer in the series following opponent skipper Dasun Shanaka on second and World number T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav in the top spot.

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Whereas on the other hand, Axar also bowled 10 overs with the ball in all three matches of the series and scalped three wickets. The 28-year-old was awarded the player of the series for his brilliant outings throughout the entire series and subsequently, he lavished praises on the stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya while speaking in the post-match presentation after India’s win in the series decider against the visitors.

“Captain se zyada confidence mil raha tha ki mai piche baitha hu, tu kar jo karna hai. Mujhe lag raha hai vo confidence kaam aa rha hai. (Captain gave me a lot of confidence and said that 'you play freely. I am here to back you. So, I guess that confidence is what is working well for me),” said Axar Patel in the post-match presentation.

Although these praising remarks from Axar for Hardik Pandya didn’t go down well with a section of the Indian cricket fans, especially the fans of regular Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli. They immediately took to Twitter to call out Axar Patel for uselessly praising Pandya who reportedly misbehaved with young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who had a tough day at the office during the second ODI against the Islanders.

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Here's how fans slammed Axar Patel after his praising remarks for Hardik Pandya:

Useless captain.
Then he should have been behind Arshdeep also

— it's me only (@immessifan20) January 7, 2023

Bodied Captain Nofit

— GAUSS 【🦁KING KOHLI STAN】 (@Stan_Kohli72) January 7, 2023

Kohli aur Rohit ne kuch alag kaha tha kya? Sab captain wohi kehte hai har player ko.

— Kothal Guita (@KothalGuita) January 7, 2023

Gujarati to Gujarati https://t.co/0WnoPAG7P8

— विजय (@bijjuu11) January 7, 2023

Well paid @hardikpandya7

— aarnav13 (@aarnav_13) January 7, 2023

Team mei jagah ke liye ye sab bhi karna padta hai??? https://t.co/K6YbJ1FkcZ

— thalafans (@thalafa64581653) January 8, 2023

Now, Axar Patel would be in action with the men in blue during the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Both teams will lock horns in the series opener at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday, the 10^th of January.