India T20I vice-captain and all-rounder Axar Patel opened up on ongoing controversy around Gautam Gambhir-led support staff after India's dismal outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly not happy with support staff. They also roped in Sitanshu Kotak as an additional batting coach ahead of five matches T20I series against England.
Axar who will be Suryakumar Yadav's deputy in the upcoming T20I series against England believes that there were no issues with support staff in the whiteball scheme of things. He added that he didn't know what happened in Australia during the five-Test match series as he was not part of the squad.
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"Regarding support staff, I wasn't with the team for the last three months so I don't know what happened in Australia but here the support staff is the same and we have been discussing on what we want to do in matches," Axar Patel said during the pre-match press conference.
"Whatever inputs we want, we talk to the batting or bowling coach accordingly. In T20Is, it is a fast game, so we talk about important decisions quickly, so that’s what we talk about, what my (or anyone’s) role is."
India vs England's five-match T20I series is scheduled to start from January 22 and the first match will take place in Eden Gardens Kolkata. This will be India's first international assignment after losing 1-3 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.