Axar Patel clarifies the confusion behind his name in an in-flight interview with KL Rahul

What's the story?

Axar Patel, in an in-flight interview to KL Rahul en route Bengaluru, has clarified the confusion regarding why his name is spelt as A-X-A-R and not A-K-S-H-A-R.

Stating that 'India wants to know the real spelling of your name', KL quizzed Axar, to which he replied, "When I was in the under-19 team, I had to get my passport made before the World Cup. So when my father back home went to my school for the relieving certificate, the principal mistakenly spelt my name A-X-A-R. As a result, my passport and driving license, both had the wrong spelling of my name.

"Then I thought, it's better to go ahead with A-X-A-R rather than A-K-S-H-A-R."

You can watch the full video here.

In case you didn't know...

The Indian team has already claimed the series going into the fourth match at Bengaluru, riding on swashbuckling performances from the team's youngsters in Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The all-rounder from Gujarat, after missing the first three matches due to an injury, has replaced Ravindra Jadeja for the remaining two ODIs of the five-match ODI series against Australia.

The heart of the matter

The interview was a part of the segment called 'in-flight entertainment courtesy team India' where KL, who is a native of Bengaluru, fired some questions at Pandya and Axar before becoming the interviewee himself.

While Pandya and KL talked about their special attachment to the Karnataka capital, Axar disclosed the hilarious reason behind his name.

Surprisingly, Patel's Facebook page goes with the name 'Akshar' and as revealed by his father previously, his bank documents carry the 'original spelling' of his name as well.

What's Next

With the series already in the bag, the Men in Blue will be aiming at inflicting further damage to the confidence and pride of the visiting Australian team. Given the fact that the team from Down Under is one of the best in the world, it's highly doubtful that captain Virat Kohli and the team management would want to tinker much with the lineup to ensure a clean sweep.

The fourth match of the series at Bengaluru will be played on 28th September, while Nagpur will host the last ODI on 1st October.

Author's Take

The core of this Indian team is made out of youngsters who are relatively new to the international stage of cricket and it is heartening to see them gel together off the field as well.