Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt raised his concerns regarding the place of Axar Patel in the Indian team after he failed to take advantage of the spin-friendly conditions in Colombo against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The left-handed all-rounder, who took Shardul Thakur’s spot in the playing 11 failed to have a meaningful impact on the game, going wicketless while only bowling five of his allotted overs.
Axar Patel has shown the ability to be a very effective defensive bowler who can bowl at various points in the innings. The left-arm had the least impact among the spinners on both sides, as he had the lowest economy rate of the bunch, leaking 29 runs in his five overs in a match when spinners from both sides dominated.
Speaking on his YouTube Channel, Salman Butt highlighted the struggle of Axar Patel in the game against Sri Lanka and feels that the left-arm spinner is not on par with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran in terms of the bowling, because he didn’t buy any turn on a surface that was favourable for spin bowling.
“When you see Axar Patel’s bowling, he is not on par with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. No doubt his batting is quite good, but if he didn’t get any turn on this wicket, where will he? There was so much turn-on offer that even Charith Asalanka picked up four wickets. However, Axar Patel didn’t get any turn, which is a matter of concern,” Salman Butt said.
Axar Patel was picked in the Indian World Cup squad ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal due to his consistent performance in the last two years in all three formats of the game. Apart from his bowling abilities, the all-rounder has improved his batting drastically in the last two years and can play at any position for the team.
Both Kuldeep And Jadeja Have Very Good Releases – Salman Butt
Salman Butt analyzed the bowling of the Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the game against Sri Lanka, where Kuldeep give more air to the ball, which is the reason behind his success in the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian spinners picked up six wickets in the middle overs which helped India to secure a victory over the home soil on Wednesday.
“Kuldeep Yadav gives the ball air. Both Kuldeep and Jadeja have very good releases, which is why there is a lot of rip. Our bowlers push the ball towards the batters instead of giving the ball air and revs. They bowl at a flatter trajectory. Yes, Jadeja also bowls flat, but he gets rip,” Salman Butt added.
Kuldeep Yadav was key to India’s dominance as he shut out the entire middle order and lower-middle order batting of Sri Lanka and currently is joint highest wicket-taker in the Asia Cup alongside Dunith Wellalage and Haris Rauf and he can be crucial to the team’s success going forward in the continental event