India captain Rohit Sharma had promised to take all-rounder Axar Patel as a compensation after dropping a sitter to deny the latter a hat-trick in the Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh last week. Now, Axar has revealed that Rohit is yet to fulfill his promise. During the match against Bangladesh, Axar was on a hat-trick after dismissing Tanzid Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim off consecutive deliveries in the second and third ball of the 9th over. He almost made it three in three balls, only for Rohit to drop Towhid Hridoy on the hat-trick ball.
While Towhid went on to score a century, India comfortably chased down a total of 228. As for Rohit's promise, Axar has revealed that he is going to ask the Indian captain for his dinner in the coming days, especially with the team through to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy. India have a seven day break, with their final group game against New Zealand this Sunday.
"We have a six-day break I think we have qualified as well. So, I think now I will have a chance to ask him for my dinner," Axar said while speaking to the ICC.
Axar has so far picked up three wickets in the tournament, but he is yet to fire with the bat in the tournament.
During the match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, Axar walked out to bat when India needed 19 runs to complete the chase and Virat Kohli needed 14 to complete his century.
He played a sensible knock to help Kohli reach his 51st ODI century by hitting the winning runs with a boundary.
"It was the first time I got to watch a high-pressure game from the dressing room where Virat bhaiya scored a century. I had a lot of fun, and the way he was running between the wickets after fielding for 50 overs is a testament to his fitness," Axar told ICC.
"At the end, actually main bhi thoda maths kar raha tha unke hundred ke liye (Even I was doing the math for his hundred towards the end). I was hoping that I don't edge the ball or something. So, it was quite fun," he added.
Axar received the fielder of the match award from former India opener Shikhar Dhawan, who entered the Indian dressing room amid loud cheers.
"Congratulations to the whole team, especially the bowling unit. Kuldeep took three wickets. Coming to the batting, Virat, well played. That is what experienced players do. Very well done, Shubman, great consistency. Thank you for inviting me here to present the medal," Dhawan told the team.