3 reasons why India dropping Axar Patel for the 3rd Test vs England is the wrong move

India made the shocking decision of omitting Axar Patel in favor of the returning Ravindra Jadeja in their playing XI for the third Test against England in Rajkot.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Jadeja therefore made up the spin-bowling trio that captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid decided to bank upon.

This is quite a surprising decision given how well Axar has bowled and batted for India in this series, and how much more he would have enjoyed turning his arms over on this rank-turner of a surface.

In this listicle, we bring to you three reasons why India dropping Axar for the third Test against England is the wrong move:

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#1 Axar Patel was the third-highest run-scorer for India in the series

Axar Patel, before this Test, was the third-highest run-scorer for India in the series. Having amassed 133 runs at an average of over 33 across four innings, Axar was only behind Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in the standings.

Axar also scored two 40s in the two Tests that he played and showed signs of adding a lot of heft to the team. He would have enjoyed batting in Rajkot and could have added a lot of quality to the side in its lower order.

Being a southpaw at the lower end of India's batting order, Axar offered a variety that the English bowlers took for granted. As a result, he scored runs freely and wreaked havoc on the visitors' minds.

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#2 He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India in the series

Axar Patel in action for India.

Apart from his batting skills, Axar did exceedingly well in the role that he is primarily known and selected for - left-arm spin bowling.

The Gujarat spinner was the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India in the series with five scalps to his name. He would have enjoyed bowling on the turning pitch here at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot and extracted a lot of turn and bounce.

Axar's tall stature allows him to bowl from a trajectory that forces batters to play at every ball. His height also allows him to extract turn and bounce from most surfaces, let alone such historical turners as the one here in Rajkot.

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#3 India could have surprised England with a four-spin bowling attack

Much like what England did to India in the first Test played in Hyderabad, the latter could have played a four-spin bowling attack comprising Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel.

As mentioned earlier, the surface in Rajkot is known to turn square from the second and third day of a Test match.

Having four spinners in one's armory would have helped India immensely, not to mention the element of surprise with which it would have caught England's batters, who would have had to resort to their usual fare of sweeping and reverse-sweeping.