Axar Patel contributed with 52 and 41* runs in the recently-concluded second Test to help India take the upper hand against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai before winning comprehensively by 372 runs. Indian left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel was happy with converting his starts into decent scores after playing two crucial knocks with the bat against New Zealand in the second Test in Mumbai.
Axar Patel Said Batting Coach Vikram Rathour And Management Has Faith In His Batting Abilities And He Was Happy To Be Able To Convert Chances
India needed some quick runs to pile on the misery on New Zealand and Axar Patel took the attack to the cleaners during his 32-minute stay at the crease, smashing three fours and four sixes. The 27-year-old, who made his Test debut against England in March this year, averages nearly 30 with the bat this year in red-ball cricket.
“My endeavour is to keep improving and look at areas where I need to get better. All the hardwork that I have put in all these years have finally yielded results this year,” Axar said after the third day’s play.
“The batting coach (Vicky Rathour) and team management has faith in my batting abilities, and they have always told me that ‘you can do it’. Earlier, when I got chances, I couldn’t convert my starts but this time when I got chances, I was able to convert.”
“My batting is benefitting my team and if you see that myself, Jaddu and Ash bhai play as all-rounders, it releases a bit of pressure on our batters, so its a good sign. As long as I keep contributing it’s good for both me and my team,” he added.
Chasing a mammoth 540 to win, New Zealand were bowled out for 167 with the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (4/34) and Jayant Yadav (4/49) running through their batting line-up. The win is India’s biggest ever in Tests in terms of run-margin.
India romped home to a massive 372-run win over inaugural WTC 2019-2021 champions New Zealand on the fourth morning of the second Test and clinched the two-match series 1-0 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
Axar Patel Already Has 36 Wickets In 5 Tests In His ‘Dream Year’
Axar Patel, who is enjoying a dream run in his debut Test year, bagged a couple of wickets in New Zealand’s first innings and added another to his kitty on Day 3 as India reduced the tourists to 140 for 5 with two more days to go. Axar Patel has largely remained under the shadow of another orthodox left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s for years before he made the year 2021 his own with 36 wickets with his fifth Test ongoing.
“Actually, this has been my dream year you can say. The way I bowled in England series and now how the New Zealand series panned out, in between, there was IPL so I can say that this has really been a good year for me personally,” Axar said.
Axar Patel made his Test debut against England at home in February 2021, six years after playing his maiden limited-overs match for India, and starred so much so with the ball that he ended up picking 27 wickets from the 3 matches in the series. He took 4 five-wicket hauls as England lost the series 3-1.
England managed to win only the first Test match, which Axar Patel missed due to a knee injury. In his debut Test series, he finished behind Ravichandran Ashwin (32) in the leading wicket-takers list. In only 5 Tests, he has scored 179 runs averaging 29.83, and taken 36 scalps averaging a mere 11.86.
India 325 (Agarwal 150, Axar 52, Ajaz 10-119) and 276 for 7 declared (Agarwal 62, Ajaz 4-106) beat New Zealand 62 (Ashwin 4-8, Siraj 3-19) and 167 (Mitchell 60, Nicholls 44, Ashwin 4-34, Jayant 4-49) by 372 runs