News about Axar Patel

LAWRENCE BOOTH: When Jon Lewis, head coach of England's women, revealed recently that team analysts had used artificial intelligence to inform selection for last summer's Ashes, it sounded like another nail in the coffin for the traditional talent scout, armed with binoculars, notepad and gut instinct. But the use of software run by the London-based firm PSi to simulate 250,000 match-game permutations is just part of an ongoing revolution in the way cricket coaches and selectors make their decisions. Lewis, who concluded that off-spinner Charlie Dean should come into the T20 side - a move that played a role in England's stirring comeback against Australia - was only too happy to let the boffins do their work.

Fireworks have blazed the stand-by. This fourth Test may be short, and England will only hope, sweet, as they try to pull Rajkot behind them and level this series. Well, Ben Stokes said on Wednesday that he had never seen anything like the dark brown, ultra-dry, and cracked pitch that brought back memories of England's last Indian tour three years ago, when the team lost by a 3-1 series loss to rank turners. When asked to describe the surface two days out at this north-western outpost where an international stadium was constructed 12 years ago almost in honor of legendary local MS Dhoni,' said the England captain.

PAUL NEWMAN IN VISAKHAPATNAM: England fell short of a second miracle in a row this week after being bowled out for 292 runs on Monday, losing the second Test by 106 runs. After pulling off an amazing victory in the first Test, England got to a target of 399 and make history on the fourth day. However, even though they did have times when they were able to imagine escaping the near impossible, they were unable to repeat their first Test magic and left the series level at 1-1 with three others participating.

On days three and four of the match, Ben Stokes' team shocked the cricket world by producing a comeback for the ages, winning by 28 runs following stunning performances from Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley. Pope ruled India to win the Test by 196 runs, but Hartley recovered from a difficult first innings to take seven wickets, including the final one of Ravichandran Ashwin to win by a single run.

PAUL NEWMAN IN HYDERABAD: From being battered for six on his first ball in Test cricket to becoming the first English spinner since Jim Laker to a seven-wicket haul on debut. Take a bow, Tom Hartley. What a brilliant result from Lancashire's young left-arm spinner, and what a triumph for England to kick off this five-Test series. It came at the end of a fourth day of epic drama, with just four balls of the extra half hour remaining and England completing one of the best comebacks in Test history.

PAUL NEWMAN IN HYDERABAD: At times when it seemed that England's faith in Ollie Pope was going to be unrewarded, and that he was never going to become the next great batsman. Even on the first day of this massive series, Pope was the least likely of the England batsmen to find a way to combat outstanding Indian bowlers in their own environment. Yes, it was Pope's comeback after suffering his second major shoulder injury in his career cut short his Ashes at Lord's last summer.

NASSER HUSSAIN: When David Lloyd, our long-serving England columnist, was England coach, he used to say, 'Whoever's in the opposition doing your job, be better than him.' Phil Tufnell, who was up against Shane Warne, was thinking about Spare. Or imagine Robert Croft's face as Muttiah Muralitharan was spinning it four yards. Likewise, discussing England's new spin incumbents alongside India's outstanding trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel is a chalk and cheese talk. Given the fact that Jack Leach is returning from a long-term injury, teenage Rehan Ahmed is playing his second Test and Tom Hartley is on debut, it would be unfair to compare.

On the first day of their Test series in India, England was given a hysterical examination before a bruising introduction of debutant Tom Hartley. In only three times in their last 46 games on home soil, India has lost just three times in the last 46 games on home soil, but they were quick to give an example of the challenge that awaits England's Bazball brigade over the next seven weeks. England captain Ben Stokes, who had been on crutches after knee surgery in November, struck a critical 70 to give his side a fighting chance in their first innings, but fell to spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel on a predictable surface eight of his teammates.

At the Indian Premier League 2024 player mini auction, England batter Harry Brook has been sold by the Delhi Capitals for four crore rupees (roughly £380,000). The 24-year-old began his IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad but will now relocate to Delhi, becoming the second player to be auctioned behind West Indies batter Rovman Powell. In the 2023 season, the Sunrisers paid over £1.3 million for Brook, but he only scored 190 runs in 11 games.

After selecting Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir in their squad for next month's series, England will bring two uncapped and inexperienced spinners into the heat of a Test tour of India. As first reported by Mail Sport in September, the pair are part of a 16-man squad named today by Rob Key for a critical five-Test series, as well as a third player uncapped at Test level in quick bowler Gus Atkinson. It is the pick of Lancashire's Hartley and, in particular, Somerset rookie Bashir, that will be coveted, with England looking to find new spinners to join England's veteran fit-again Jack Leach and Rewinding Legspinner Rehan Ahmed on India's turning pitches.

India have exacted some belated retribution for their World Cup heartbreak with their spinners spearheading a series-sealing 20-run victory over a much-changed Australia in the fourth Twenty20 at Raipur

Josh Inglis was the Australian waterboy just a few months ago, but after his maiden T20 international against India overnight, he is now placing serious pressure on Alex Carey to replace him at all three levels of cricket.

In the team's fifth straight loss, David Warner's long run of poor form continued on Saturday in the Indian Premier League (IPL), with the Delhi Capitals skipper being chastised for his slow batting in the Delhi Capitals' fifth straight loss. After losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday night, the Capitals are solidly stuck to the bottom of the ladder, with Warner holing out for 19 out of 13 balls. Legends and followers (inset) have slammed the Aussie veteran, who is now in the midst of a slow-down after a stellar career.

Mark Wood made an incredible display in the Indian Premier League by taking three wickets in his first two overs in the middle of a record-breaking five-wicket haul to ransack Delhi's batting. Wood, who had been signed ahead of the 2022 season but was forced to leave due to an elbow injury that needed surgery, had a massive haul in the process.

As Australia levelled the ODI series after thrashing India by ten wickets in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, Steve Smith took a stunning catch. The Aussies ripped into India's batting line-up, with the hosts bundled out for 117, their fourth-lowest ODI total at home, as Mitchell Starc took five wickets and Sean Abbott chipped in with three wickets. As Smith, who is still standing in as skipper in place of Pat Cummins, began to his right to exclude Pandya for 1.

With curators still having to determine which wicket to use at Narendra Modi Stadium, India seemed to be playing mind games ahead of the fourth Test of the series against Australia. Two decks were covered at Ahmedabad's world-largest cricket stadium in preparation for the final Test of the series, which will begin on Thursday. On a green-grassed square, two wickets were being prepared. One of the square's right flanks featured a dark soil pitch with another strip of grass on it that was apparently kept in reserve.

In the second Test, Australian cricket legend Allan Border says Pat Cummins is facing the first true test of his captaincy in India, despite the skipper 'grossly underbowled himself'. After wrapping up a six-wicket victory in Delhi, Australia's hopes of winning a first Test series in India for 19 years fell on Sunday as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead. After recovering on 1-61 on Day Three, the tourists looked poised to record India an imposing total, but the tourists lost nine wickets in 90 minutes, leaving India to fight a modest 115 to win.

After losing by six wickets in Delhi in the second Test of the series against India, Pat Cummins said Australia was 'hurt.' For the fourth time since crashing down 115 on Day Three after Australia sank to 113 all out in 90 minutes, the hosts retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth time in a row. After losing ten wickets in a single session in their second dig, the tourists lost nine wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium before lunch, recovering on 1-61.

Ian Healy, a great cricketer, has launched an scathing lawsuit against Indian cricket authorities for reportedly encouraging pitch curators in Nagpur to interfere with Australia's plans to perform at VCA Stadium. The Aussies' chances of winning their first series in India in 19 years got off to a rocky start last week, when they were thrashed by an innings and 132 runs after slumping to their lowest ever total figure in the region. With the Test finishing within three days, Australia was allowed to practice on a day four surface.

Australia's team arrived in Nagpur with the belief that they might have ended their 18-year wait for a string of victories in India. Pat Cummins' side received a rude awakening after three days on the subcontinent, which would keep Australians up for a long time at night. England battered for 91 runs in a dramatic capitulation on Saturday, losing the first Test by an innings and 132 runs in a humiliating collapse. It means Australia has lost by an innings in Asia for the first time since being defeated by Sri Lanka by a wide margin in Galle last July. Captain Pat Cummins will no doubt be left scratching his head before the second Test on Friday, when Australia will unquestionably make dramatic changes to the side that folded in Nagpur.

In a bid to combat the doctored wicket in the first Test against India in Nagpur, which begins on Thursday, Australian Test veteran David Warner will bat right handed (pictured left). Warner has only scored three half-centuries from his 16th innings in India, his highest score of 71. On the subcontinent, he has an underwhelming average of 24.25.

The pitch at Nagpur for Thursday's first Test is sure to raise eyebrows in the Australian camp, as photos show the lengths India is expected to go to in order to give its spinners a leg up. Hours before the photos were taken (bottom right), Steve Smith and David Warner inspected the pitch, raising questions about the way the wicket is being prepared with the intention of targeting some of Australia's best players.

NASSER HUSSAIN: India plays more Twenty20 cricket than on any other team because of the IPL and is extremely versatile and experienced in this style of the game. In what would be a highly awaited semi-final here in Adelaide on Thursday, they pose a major threat to England. However, there is no doubt that they are under more pressure than they are on the other team in the game. They can go from hero to zero so quickly due to their fanatical help. At the moment, India is riding high and most people are rated as favorites for this World Cup, but if one of them slips up all the surrounding noise could become very loud. If you believe England is under pressure, then multiply it by a million with India.