Axar Patel (right) in action against England.© AFP

An emotional Axar Patel has admitted that he had never imagined to complete a century of T20 Internationals for India, and dedicated the milestone to his teammates, coaches and family. The all-rounder reflected on his journey from his T20I debut in 2015 to becoming one of India's most dependable white-ball players, and acknowledged the lessons that he has learnt over the past decade. Axar, who completed 100 wickets in the second T20I against England in the ongoing tour, will play his 100th game in the format in the fourth match of the series here on Thursday.

"When the first time I played T20, I never imagined I would play 100 matches. This tour of England will be very special for me because, like in the second T20, I completed my 100 wickets and in the fourth T20, it's my 100th match. So it's a very special day for me and I am really enjoying the moment," Axar said in a video posted by bcci.tv.

"It really feels good. Basically as a player when you achieve a milestone, I feel it's not about me, I am not achieving this alone. You know that along with me, my teammates, my coaches, my family...So I think everyone has played a role in this journey of mine.

"When you start, when you debut for the first time that's a completely different feeling. Back then you don't know how much you will achieve, but I am going to play my 100th match and that feeling you really can't express. Even if you play a single match for India that is huge for you because it's a player's dream," he added.

Recollecting his journey, Axar termed it a roller-coaster ride and full of learnings.

"When you play for such a long time that journey is obviously like a roller-coaster, sometimes up and sometimes down. In the first 5 or 6 years, I played only 15 or 16 matches and then from 2021 till now I think I have played continuously.

"We have the last two T20 World Cups with us. We won for the first time in 2024 and for a second time in 2026, so when you play your 100th match all of this journey and those memories come together and I think those special memories have been made," he said.

For Axar individual milestones hardly matters, and these feats are only a reflection of the hard work he has put over the years.

"Milestones doesn't matter that much to me but yes sometimes it does feel good that you are taking 100 T20 wickets. It's a milestone, all the hard work we have put in over the years and after that whenever things went well or went badly, we have learned from the mistakes, we focussed on how we could get better. I feel we focussed on our process, we kept getting better day by day," he said.

Axar said he has become more calm, composed and matured as a human being over the last decade.

"I know this much that in my first match I was man-of-the-match. I took three wickets, giving away nine runs or may 18 or 20 runs.

"There is a big change between the Axar Patel of today and the Axar Patel of back then. 2015 and 2026, I think 11 years is a very long time. The more mistakes you make, the more you learn along with them," he said.

"When you are a young blood, you think 'Oh let me do this, let me do that'. So I think the difference between that Axar and today's Axar is just that I am much more calm now, handling pressure and all that has become easier. At that time everything felt new. If I would have met that Axar before I would told him 'learn from your mistakes as much as possible'."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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