Overview:
Axar has been a top performer in the fifty-over format and T20Is. He has contributed with the bat and ball in international cricket.
Former player Aakash Chopra has questioned the recently released BCCI contract list, asking why India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel was given a Category C contract. The Indian Cricket Board has scrapped the A+ bracket and kept Grade A as the top category.
Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja are in the top bracket. Axar Patel, who has been playing white-ball cricket and is a part of the Test squad as well, was demoted from Grade B to C, a move that surprised Chopra. Aakash took to X and asked what the all-rounder needs to do to get fair treatment.
Chopra didn’t like the move of keeping KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav in a lower category and also wrote about Arshdeep’s bracket.
“Axar Patel ko aur kya karna hoga to get what he deserves? Three-format player. Vice-captain in one format. Grade-C?? Also, if Jadeja and Gill are in Grade-A, why aren’t Hardik, Rahul and Kuldeep?? Even Arshdeep shouldn’t be in Grade-C,” wrote Chopra on X.
Chopra questioned the logic behind keeping two-format players Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja in Grade A.
“Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill are in Grade A. Gill and Jadeja are two-format players, but they got the Grade A category. What about Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul? Kuldeep Yadav is playing in all formats of the game. Axar Patel is the vice-captain in T20Is, plays ODI and is also available for Test matches, but he is in Grade C. Arshdeep is also in Grade C. Mohammed Siraj is also in Grade B despite competing in all formats.
“This is unfair. Axar should have been in Grade A,” he added.
Axar has been a top performer in the fifty-over format and T20Is. He has contributed with the bat and ball in international cricket.