Axar Patel became the first bowler to bag a five-wicket haul at the revamped stadium in Ahmedabad. It is his second five-for in just his second Test representing India as he had bagged 5 wickets too in the previous Test’s 2nd innings.
All-rounder Axar Patel rocked England with his six-wicket haul in the third Test at the newly built Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Playing in front of his home crowd, the left-arm off-spinner who picked successive five-wicket hauls returned with the figures of 6 for 38 to help India bowl out Joe Root’s England for a paltry 112.
Axar Patel Recognised The Fact That The Odd Ball Is Turning So He Just Kept Bowling The Same Line And Length: Sunil Gavaskar
Impressed with India’s bowling performance on the 1st day of the 3rd Test, former Indian captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar stated that Axar Patel is well aware of his strengths which helped him trouble the English batsmen.
“He [Axar] recognized the fact that the odd ball is turning which is creating a doubt in the batsman’s mind. So, he just kept bowling the same line and same length. So, that’s the best part of his bowling. He knows that this is his strength and he bowls to his strength,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“Sometimes bowlers try to change the way they have bowled in first-class cricket which has got them to the Test level. They try and adapt the thing that how they need to bowl at the Test level. And they eventually lose what has brought to the Test team. Axar hasn’t tried to do that,” he added.
Making his Test debut at Chennai in the 2nd Test, Axar Patel rocked England’s second innings, picking up 5/60 to bundle them out for 164, chasing 482 to win. Axar Patel’s 5/60 made him the ninth India bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul on debut and the sixth Indian spinner after VV Kumar, Dilip Doshi, Narendra Hirwani, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Amit Mishra to do so.
Axar Patel made his ODI debut in 2014, followed by his first T20I game a year later. It took the left-arm spinner six years to finally break into the Test team. He has 13 scalps in his debut series averaging a meagre 10.62 so far bowling 62.2 overs.
Axar Patel Will Obviously Add More Variety With Experience: Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar was of the opinion that with experience, Axar Patel will develop variations in his bowling but as of now, the left-arm off-spinner needs to back his strength.
“With experience, with more Test matches that he plays, he will obviously add a little more variety. Right now, at his second Test, his strength is his accuracy and that is what he needs to keep doing,” Sunil Gavaskar further said.
The combination of left-arm spinner Axar Patel and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin exploited the turning Motera pitch, folding England’s first innings in just 48.4 overs after the visitors opted to bat. At stumps, India was 99 for 3 from 33 overs with opener Rohit Sharma batting on unbeaten 57 off 82 balls.
Ajinkya Rahane (1) was giving the opener company following skipper Virat Kohli’s dismissal for 27 in the last over of the day. England managed only 112 with Zak Crawley scoring 53. The next best was Joe Root’s 17 as the likes of batsmen Jonny Bairstow, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, and Ollie Pope were dismissed on single-digit scores.