Axar Patel and the fine art of standing tall

Axar Patel is a tall bloke. Six-foot-one, with long arms and a heavy mop of hair. The height helps him stand out in India's huddles and team anthems, but it is also what makes his four-and-a-half step run-up deceptive. Some balls spear in, others straighten with bounce, all delivered in a style that looks ungainly until it lands exactly where he wants it to.

But for all the physical presence and skill, Axar is rarely the one who hogs the spotlight. In the build-up to this India-Pakistan game in Dubai, the left-arm talk was about the other bowlers. Mohammad Nawaz, "best spinner in the world." Kuldeep Yadav, the X factor. Shaheen Afridi, due another magical new-ball spell. Even Sufiyan Muqeem, with his bag of tricks.

On the night, though, it was Axar who built on the breakthrough provided by the pacers and took the match away from Pakistan in the middle overs with figures that read – 4 overs, 15 dots, 18 runs, 2 wickets.

He didn't bowl inside the powerplay like he had against the UAE, but he was summoned for Fakhar Zaman, the left-handed hitter who had begun to look comfortable. Fakhar charged, looking to impose himself on what was supposed to be a favourable match-up. Left-handed batter vs left-arm spinner. Instead, he found himself caught at deep, unable to get on top of a ball fired in at 94.7 kph upon seeing him use his feet.

From there, Axar found a rhythm from the less-favoured end, the one India's legspinners mostly avoided. He bowled two overs in the first half of Pakistan's innings, his couple of wickets for only three runs leaving Pakistan stranded at 49 for 4.

"You feel if a left-hander is walking in, you can't bowl a left-arm spinner," India captain Suryakumar Yadav said. "But he practices more to the left-handed batters. And when he bowls to the right-handers, he has his own plans."

The standout moment, though, came against the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha. The field was set without long-on or long-off, almost teasing him to hit straight but Axar bowled anything but hittable lengths. Agha was beaten on the sweep, cramped on the cut, pinned on the back foot. By the time frustration took over and he premeditated another sweep, Axar had slowed it down to 85.2 kph, bowling it loopy and wide and inviting the top edge. Taken in the deep.

It was the kind of over that summed up his craft: smart lines, simple changes of pace and the skills and nerves to keep things tight.

Kuldeep Yadav might have finished with the awards but it was Axar's control that allowed India's spinners to run through Pakistan. He operated differently too. Normally in the early 90s, here he bowled nearly 70 percent of his deliveries under 90 kph, and over half between 85 and 89 kph. Against the UAE, only 59 percent of his deliveries were under 90.

Mike Hesson, Pakistan's head coach, was blunt. "There's no mystery there," he said of Axar. "He slides the ball in and occasionally he turns one. It's the accuracy and the pressure. You build dots, the mind plays tricks, you play a big shot. It's not about picking him. It's about not being able to rotate."

Axar came into this Asia Cup with his brief vice-captaincy a thing of the past, but his place in this side was never in doubt, despite the many permutations and combinations that India's squad enabled. That his batting and fielding is a subplot is another reason India trust him.

His three-dimensional utility across formats – a late recognition when Ravindra Jadeja's powers started to wane a little – has made him a regular and part of India's T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy wins. He has floated up the order in recent ICC tournaments and been used as a left-handed option against spin, sometimes as high as No. 4.

Axar has always competed with Jadeja for a spot in the side, going as far back as June 2014, when he made his debut for India, and lost the battle most times. But with experience and form behind him now, he is making the seasons count.

"I feel he is a very experienced campaigner," Suryakumar said. "He has been around the Indian team for a very, very long time. He knows his job really well. His plans are very clear. And I am sure if given an opportunity, with the bat too, he will grab it with both hands."

But on a night like this, playing against Pakistan, in a high-pressure match where the games started well before the first ball was bowled, it was his bowling, his primary skill, that did all the talking.

On Sunday in Dubai, Axar stood tall. Especially when he had the ball in his hand.