Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar is mighty impressed with Axar Patel, who bowled brilliantly in the third Test match against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Patel scalped 6-38 in the first innings as he bowled accurately at the stumps. Subsequently, Patel returned with figures of 5-32 in the second innings.
In fact, the left-arm orthodox spinner took a wicket on the first ball of each innings. Patel took the wicket of Jonny Bairstow on the first ball of the first innings whereas he dismissed Zak Crawley in the second dig.
The 27-year old took two wickets in the first over of the second essay and helped India put their noses in front. Patel got most of his wickets with an arm delivery and troubled the England batsmen with his accuracy. The spinner is known to hit the right areas and the Little Master stated that Patel sticks to his strength, which is to bowl accurately at the stumps.
“He [Axar Patel] 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 length. That’s the best part of his bowling. He knows that this is his strength and he bowls to his strength,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gavaskar added that Patel hasn’t tried to alter anything at the International level, which has helped him savour success at the first-class circuit. Patel has got off to a dream start in his Test career as he has bagged 18 wickets in two Test matches at a splendid average of 9.44. Furthermore, Patel has already taken three five-wickets hauls in his young Test career.
“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 them to the Test team. Axar hasn’t tried to do that,” Sunil Gavaskar reasoned.
Meanwhile, the Little Master believes Axar Patel will add more arrows to his quiver with experience. Patel has backed the basics and he was able to reap rewards for his accuracy. The spinner from Gujarat will look to continue the good show in the coming matches.
The hosts need another 38 runs to win the third Test match as they were set a target of 49 runs. England was skittled for a paltry score of 81 runs in the second innings.
