India’s ODI series in New Zealand opened at Eden Park on November 4 with a five-wicket win that says almost nothing about Axar Patel‘s night. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs, and India reached a revised target of 143 for 5 in 22.4 overs on the back of Virat Kohli’s 74 from 51 balls.
Axar returned figures of 5-0-12-0 and batted at No. 5, above Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, for 0 from 2 balls. The T20I leg finished 3-2 to India after they led 3-0, with Glenn Phillips taking the Player of the Series award with 341 runs.
Here are 3 stats that reflect Axar Patel’s form is a concern amid India’s 2026 tour of New Zealand.
No wickets, Five Overs, Two-ball duck
India’s four seamers shared nine of the ten New Zealand wickets, with Arshdeep Singh taking 4 for 70 and Anshul Kamboj 2 for 22 from ten overs. Axar, the specialist spinner, came on in the 21st over and did not add to that list.
An economy of 2.40 was fine in isolation, 12 runs in 30 balls while New Zealand rebuilt from 97 for 5. What it lacked was a breakthrough: 80 ODI wickets at 32.74, one every 43.3 balls, and none here.
He came in at 124 for 3, needing 19, after Kohli was caught off Jacob Duffy, and was out two balls later to a Glenn Phillips catch. Five days earlier at the same ground, he made 7 as India finished on 172 for 9 chasing 259.
New Zealand batted 40.2 overs and Axar bowled five, 12.4 percent and the smallest share of India’s five bowlers.
57 of Axar Patel’s 60 runs on 2026 England tour came in one innings
Edgbaston in July was the exception. Axar Patel made an unbeaten 57 off 52 balls to finish a 102-run stand with Washington Sundar from 160 for 4. His series figures, however, read 60 runs in three innings at 30.00 and a strike rate of 100.
The other two innings were 1 at Cardiff, caught behind off Jofra Archer, and 2 at Lord’s. The T20I leg before the ODIs, an 0-4 defeat, added 3 runs off 4 balls.
Since then: 20 off 14 at Indore after coming in at 202 for 8, 3 off 5 in the fourth West Indies T20I, 19 not out off 9 balls in New Zealand, 7 at Eden Park. Those five innings add up to 52 runs at 13.00. He did not bat in the first two games of the Afghanistan series in September.
12.21 economy against West Indies, dropped in New Zealand
Apart from the 4 for 62 at Edgbaston, Axar Patel last took two wickets or more in an ODI at the Champions Trophy in February 2025. The T20Is on the England tour brought 0 for 13 and 0 for 63.
The West Indies and New Zealand series were underwhelming too. In Ranchi, Shai Hope’s hundred was completed with a six off Axar and he finished with 0 for 63 from 3.5 overs, 16.43 an over. He conceded 88 runs across the next two T20Is against the Windies and took only a couple of wickets.
In the New Zealand T20Is, Axar Patel took just two wickets and went for 115 runs. He was dropped for the final two matches.
Afghanistan in September is the counterweight: 1 for 27 in four overs in Delhi, then 2 for 9 in three overs when Gurbaz and Atal fell to the slog sweep in the same over.
None of this makes Axar a selection problem yet, and one rain-shortened match is thin evidence. But he has numbers to answer before the second ODI on November 7.
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Edited by Srinjoy
