Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel’s exceptional spells turned the course of the second T20I against New Zealand in Team India’s favour.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel conceded just 45 runs in the combined eight overs they bowled and scalped two wickets in the process. Harshal Patel, who was duly chosen as the Player of the Match for his spell of 2/25 on his T20I debut, was the other standout Indian bowler. Harshal Patel picked the most wickets in IPL 2021-32 scalps.
Aakash Chopra Praised Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel For Being Economical And Feels The Duo Won India The Match
While reviewing India’s bowling performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was effusive in his praise of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel. Cruising at 64 for one in the powerplay, the Kiwis suddenly hit a roadblock in the crucial middle overs and managed just 64 runs from 7 to 16 overs, with Ravichandran Ashwin (1/19) and Axar Patel (1/26) dominating the New Zealand batters in the dew-laden condition.
“Ashwin and Axar together took a couple of wickets, they were economical as well. In my opinion, both of them set the match, let’s be very honest. It is difficult to bowl spin with an extremely wet ball, both bowled exceedingly well and brought India back in the match. In fact, in my opinion they won India the match.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the spin duo had brought India back into the game after Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell had given the Kiwis a blazing start.
Aakash Chopra elaborated: “The start Guptill and Mitchell had given, they were smashing it from the first over. They started batting as though they are going to post 200-225 runs. They demolished the Indian bowlers in the first six overs.”
Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell smoked 48 runs for the first wicket before the former was dismissed on the second ball of the fifth over. Team India staged a comeback thereafter to restrict the Black Caps to a score of 153/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Aakash Chopra Praised Harshal Patel For Bowling Difficult Overs But Was Surprised And Troubled That Deepak Chahar And Bhuvneshwar Kumar Were Expensive
Aakash Chopra highlighted the impact the spinners had post the powerplay overs.
Aakash Chopra explained: “When you score 64 runs in the powerplay and still do not post a total of 154, it means you didn’t even score 90 runs in the last 14 overs, it implies the spinners bowled amazingly well, whether it was Ashwin or Axar Patel.”
While also lauding Harshal Patel’s excellent spell on debut, the 44-year-old added that Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were found slightly wanting.
Aakash Chopra observed: “After that, Harshal Patel. He bowled the difficult overs, I thought he was very very good. The surprising and troubling thing is that Deepak Chahar is not bowling well and in this match Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was economical in the last match, his meter was also down.”
Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded a total of 81 runs in the eight overs they bowled. Team India might look to leave one of the two-seamers out and play Avesh Khan in the final T20I.
Man of the Match Harshal Patel’s slower ball, meanwhile, proved just as effective on international debut as it had done through his record-breaking 2021 IPL season where he took the maximum of 32 scalps, in conjunction with the long boundaries at the JSCA Stadium. He conceded just 25 in his four overs and took the wickets of Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, both caught in the deep.
Post-powerplay, New Zealand only scored 89 at 6.36 per over, with Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert, and James Neesham combining to score 36 off 51 after the fields spread out. That New Zealand ended up with 153 was largely down to the fast hands of Glenn Phillips, who hit three sixes in scoring 34 off 21.
India 155 for 3 (Rahul 65, Rohit 55, Southee 3-16) beat New Zealand 153 for 6 (Phillips 34, Mitchell 31, Harshal 2-25, Ashwin 1-19) by seven wickets