On Axar Patel Batting At No.5 In Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit Sharma's Massive 'Improvement' Verdict

Since the time Axar Patel has been promoted to bat at number five in ODI series against England, it has turned out to be beneficial for him and the Indian team. The move to bat Axar at five paid rich dividends again when he played a crucial 42 off 61 balls in India's 44-run win over New Zealand on Sunday. Ahead of India meeting Australia in the all-important first semi-final of the 2025 Champions Trophy, India skipper Rohit Sharma stated that the improvement shown by Axar as the batter, making him a vital cog in the middle-order wheel, has made for a superb watch.

"That is something that we wanted from him – a clear message was given to him when we started the ODI series against England, that no matter what the situation is, you will bat at 5. The kind of improvement he's shown with his bat over the last year or so is superb to watch. That is where we felt that we can utilise him to bat in the middle and bat freely, and that is what he does.

"He likes to take the game on and play his shots. Sometimes, when you are in trouble, you want to always take that positive route. With Axar, we definitely can do that. He showed it in the T20 World Cup final, which was a very, very crucial knock. Again, in that game as well, we were three down and for him to come out and bat like that was superb and got us to a decent total in the end.

"That is what we expect - whenever he's gotten an opportunity, he's shown that he can do just a bit more than what we expect him to do. He's upped his game in terms of his batting. So always nice to have those kind of players in your squad," said Rohit in the pre-final press conference.

Against New Zealand, Axar also shared a vital 98-run with Shreyas Iyer, who continued his good nick with a fine 79.