BREAKING! Injury Scare for Axar Patel Ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

The Indian cricket team is suffering from a lot of injury concerns in recent times, which might affect the overall team's performance in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue faced New Zealand in the first match of the five-match T20I series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.

However, during the second innings of the match, left-arm spinner Axar Patel injured his finger in an unfortunate way. Being one of the best T20 bowlers in the world, Axar's fitness will be key for the Men in Blue in the upcoming ICC event.

Axar Patel Suffers Injury Scare During IND vs NZ 1st T20I

India's star all-rounder Axar Patel suffered a major injury during the second innings of the IND vs NZ 1st T20I while bowling his fourth and final over of the match. NZ batter Daryl Mitchell played a powerful shot down the ground as Axar tried to catch the ball. But the impact of the shot was too strong and the ball ended up touching the boundary ropes despite touching Axar's hand.

The Indian vice-captain had to walk off as one of his fingers started bleeding. He couldn't complete his over and skipper Suryakumar Yadav gave the responsibility to bowl the remaining three balls of the over to Abhishek Sharma, who had a wonderful time with the bat in the first innings. Currently, there are no official reports regarding Axar Patel injury and his availability for the rest of the series.

Axar Patel's Lacklustre Performance in First T20I

While he got injured, Axar Patel didn't have a great time with both bat and ball during the match, scoring only five runs and conceding 42 runs with the ball. However, he managed to take the most important wicket of the match by dismissing the dangerous-looking Glenn Phillips, who played a magnificent knock of 78 runs off just 40 balls, including four fours and six sixes.

The Indian team put up a monumental total of 238 runs in the first innings on the back of wonderful knocks from two of the best T20 batsmen in the world, Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh. While the bowling and fielding department wasn't at its best, the Men in Blue still managed to win the match by 48 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Unfortunately, Axar Patel finger injury has increased the major concern in the squad as the team is already suffering with several other fitness concerns ahead of the much-awaited T20 World Cup 2026. The team management will hope that Axar's injury heals up soon.