India cricketer Axar Patel revealed to the world the birth of his first child. The left-arm spinning all-rounder took to social media to announce the news.
Meha Patel, Axar’s wife delivered a baby boy on the 19th of December. The couple have decided to name the child “Haksh Patel”. The 30-year-old cricketer posted a picture of the baby holding his parents’ hands on either side and wearing the India blue jersey.
The photo was accompanied by a cute caption which read, “He’s still figuring out the off side from the leg, but we couldn’t wait to introduce him to all of you in blue. World, welcome Haksh Patel, India’s smallest, yet biggest fan, and the most special piece of our hearts.”
Axar married his long-time girlfriend Meha Patel in January 2023. The couple had announced the pregnancy earlier in the year through an Instagram video. After the birth of their first child, Axar and Meha received congratulatory messages from multiple personalities in the cricketing fraternity.
Axar Patel last played for India in the T20I series in South Africa in November before featuring for Gujarat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was not picked for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Rohit Sharma reveals why Axar, Kuldeep were not picked as Ashwin’s replacement
With Ravichandran Ashwin announcing his retirement, India were left with only two spin options (Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar) in the current squad in Australia. Hence, the selectors named Tanush Kotian as Ashwin’s replacement.
Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are two big names who were initially not picked in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The left-arm leg-spinner underwent a surgery for sports hernia which ruled him out of the series while Axar was overlooked as Sundar was picked as the third spinner.
Rohit Sharma revealed that Kuldeep did not have an Australian visa while Axar was not available to travel as he recently had a baby. Thus, Kotian was with the India ‘A’ squad which travelled to Australia in October-November and the Indian captain said that they wanted someone to fly to Australia quickly.
“Tanush was here a month back and Kuldeep doesn’t have a visa. We needed someone to get here as quickly as possible. Tanush was ready and played well here. But jokes apart, he has been doing well over the last two years and we wanted a back-up in case we play two spinners in Sydney or Melbourne. Kuldeep is not 100 per cent fit as he went through a hernia surgery. Axar recently had a baby so was not going to travel. Hence, Tanush was the best option for us and he was probably one of the reasons why Mumbai went on to win the Ranji trophy last season,” Rohit Sharma was quoted saying in the press conference ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
Tanush Kotian has been highly impressive in the last couple of years. He was an integral part of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy-winning side in the 2023-24 season. He scored 502 runs at an average of 41.83 and took 29 wickets at an average of 16.96 which earned him the Player of the Tournament award. His overall first-class numbers read 1525 runs while averaging 41.21 and 101 wickets at an average of 25.70.
