The least I can do is fulfill my grandmother's last wish: Axar Patel

One would hardly expect a teenager who bunks practice sessions spends a lot of time on Playstation or watching movies and relishes eating junk food to go on to play cricket for India And more so given the cutthroat competition for a place in the playing XI of a world champion outfitWest Zones Axar Patel during the Deodhar Trophy semifinal against South at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday PicSuresh KKBut Axar Patel was destined to wear the coveted India cap and ironically cricket for him was a mere coincidence I come from a middleclass family I never wanted to be a cricketer I wanted to be an engineer twentyyearold Patel tells midday on the sidelines of the Deodhar Trophy where he is representing defending champions West Zone at the Wankhede StadiumAfter studying till Class VII in Sharda Mandir in Nadiad a small town 55kms from Ahmedabad Patel shifted to Basundi Wala Public High School where one of his friends mdash Dhiren Kansara mdash urged him to form a school teamEarly daysI thought it would be a tennisball tournament so I brought along six friends and he Kansara got four We included one more player as he was close to our principal and helped us get his approval to form the team The next day Dhiren told me to come for practice as it was a season ball tournament I was surprised and scolded him saying that playing with a season ball is dangerous and that we could get hurt recalls Patel who initially refused to play but later relented when they were told the school could be banned for three years if they failed to show upI thought that other kids should not be deprived of the opportunity because of us so we decided to play And thats how I started playing cricket at the age of 15hellip just because of my friends The first match though was not short of drama Patel was clean bowled in the first innings but refused to leave claiming the bowler chucked We always used to do that in tennisball cricket So I did not know that here we just had to leave once the umpire declared you out he saysPatel kept arguing with the umpire and had to be eventually dragged out of the field In the second innings I was so angry that I smashed that bowler for five consecutive fours he says with pride His powerhitting impressed the tournament secretary of Kheda district who decided to draft him into the district squad But having no cricket ambition Patel was irregular for practice sessionsThey complained to my father Rajesh but I somehow found different ways to avoid the net sessions I would leave the house with my kit bag go to a friends house and play gullycricket there I would purposely dirty my clothes to give the impression at home that I had been to practice reveals Axar bursting into laughterHowever he could not get away with his mischief for long Somehow his father got to know about it and decided to personally drop him to the ground But despite being a regular now Patel was still not serious about cricket Patel was soon selected for the Gujarat U19 team in 2010 His good showing prompted the selectors to pick him for the states firstclass teamThoughts of quittingBut here tragedy struck Patel hurt his leg at home during the Diwali break that ruled him out for the entire season I needed around eight to 10 stitches on my leg I cried a lot and wanted to quit the game because I feared I would have to start all over again and I didnt want to do that he says It took another tragedy mdash the passing away of his grandmother Kamlabai in 2012 mdash that finally made Patel take his cricket seriouslyI was in my second year in the U19 category I was playing a match at Gandhinagar when my grandmother passed away back home However my family decided not to inform me about it But one of my friends gave me the news late in the night But by then her last rites were over I continued playing as I was batting the next day and also had to field I went home after the matchThats when my father told me that it was my grandmothers last wish to see me in the India jersey It was then that I decided to start taking my cricket seriously I couldnt be there for her last rites so the least I could do was fulfill her last wish he says Patel won the Board of Control for Cricket in Indias BCCI U19 cricketer of the year award for his performance in the 201213 seasonHis consistent allround show for Gujarat also earned him a place in Indian Premier Leagues Kings XI Punjab team last year where he finished with 16 wickets at an economy rate of 622 In fact Patel was one of the key players to help Punjab reach the final where they lost to KKRPatel was rewarded with the India cap for the ODI series in Bangladesh in June He claimed three wickets in two matches It was a very emotional moment when I got a call for the India camp and when I got my India jersey My father and I cried a lot I had succeeded in fulfilling my grandmothers wish She was my inspiration he saysWorld Cup contentionPatel who claimed the most number of wickets 11 in five matches in the last ODI series against Sri Lanka is now in contention for a spot in the World Cup squad according to standin skipper Virat Kohli Its a big thing I treat every game as my last I am in good flow right now but Im not thinking about the World Cup team at the moment I have to continue doing well in the domestic season he signs off