Mohammad Shami and Axar Patel were the reason why India managed to post a total of 400 in their only innings at the end as while Axar Patel was looking to get to his maiden Test hundred, Shami hammered 3 sixes and 2 fours in his 37-run knock in the first Test against Australia in Nagpur.
After bowling out Australia for 177 after Pat Cummins had won the toss and chosen to bat. Ravindra Jadeja picked fifer and Ravichandran Ashwin took 3 wickets while Marnus Labuschagne top-scored with 49 runs. In reply, India posted 400 with captain Rohit Sharma making 120, Axar Patel making 84 and Ravindra Jadeja scoring 70 runs.
Facing a lead of 223 runs, Australia were wiped out in a session on day three with Ravi Ashwin taking a fifer and Mohammad Shami taking two wickets. The Australian team lost the match by an innings and 132 runs, with India going 1-0 up in the four-match Test series.
They Told Me To Be Patient But That Did Not Happen: Mohammad Shami
Interestingly, Shami overshadowed premier batters KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Suryakumar Yadav with the bat, while playing second fiddle to Axar in a partnership of 52 runs.
After the match, Axar and Shami were seen having a conversation, a video of which was shared by BCCI on social media.
“You came in with such confidence, what were you thinking?,” asked Axar, to which, Shami replied: “I was given a role, I was told to bat as long as I could. They told me to be patient but that did not happen.”
Axar then tried to school Shami for snubbing his advice and playing attacking cricket against the Aussies.
“I kept telling you to play slowly, and you kept hitting sixes,” said Axar, who played a gritty knock of 84 off 174 balls in the Nagpur Test. Shami joked that all-rounder Axar bruised his ego a little by advising him to play patiently.
“My ego was getting hurt (laughs). I try to bat as long as possible and stop the bowler from picking my wicket, and try to take as much responsibility as I can. And we also learn from you guys, about how to play some shots. My mindset was also just to stick around with you for as long as I could and will try to do the same in the future as well,” Shami added.
Check out the video here:
Of vital partnerships ?, smashing sixes ? and ice-cool attitude ?
Presenting post-match Nagpur Tales with @akshar2026 and @MdShami11 ???? – By @RajalArora
FULL INTERVIEW ? #INDvAUS | #TeamIndia https://t.co/SZK9d5RfVr pic.twitter.com/dEbmhrCBjg
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 12, 2023