Axar Patel urges Team India to 'move on' after ICC World Cup 2023 final defeat

India`s captain Suryakumar Yadav (L) and Axar Patel attend a practice session at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam (Pic: AFP)

Star all-rounder Axar Patel believes it is time that Team India 'moves on' from the disappointment of not winning the ICC World Cup 2023 ahead of the IND vs AUS T20I series opener.

Axar missed the recently-concluded ODI World Cup owing to an injury that he suffered during the Asia Cup. However, he is back in the side for the five-match T20I series against Australia starting in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

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The 29-year-old talked about India's defeat in the final and the opportunity for the youngsters to prove that they belong in the team.

"Everyone knows that we suffered a heartbreak in the World Cup final. But it's time to move on. We have a young team that will play Australia in the T20Is. All of us are keen to prove that we belong here. There's a lot of energy in the team. It's just that we have only 10-11 T20 international matches to go before the T20 World Cup to make an impression. So, all of us have been told to play according to our strengths. There's no need for us to do something brand new. We have been told to express ourselves and move ahead. We have five matches against Australia and all of us know that they are a good side. We are not going to put ourselves under undue pressure. We will try and enjoy the games we play," Axar told JioCinema.

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He further went on to talk about his mindset after returning from injury and stated that he is doing well in all departments without making any changes to his game.

"The mindset remains the same as what it was before I had to miss the World Cup due to injury. But I am fit again and am keen on doing well in all departments of the game. I have not made any changes and am focussing on the processes. I don't want to make much changes to my mindset. I am not looking at this series from the view that I am among the senior players in the team now. I just want to continue doing what I was before the injury," Axar added.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

(With agency inputs)