Former cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded Axar Patel for his match-winning heroics in the second ODI against West Indies on Sunday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. Axar smoked an unbeaten 64 off just 35 balls that helped the tourists gun down 315 runs with two balls to spare to wrap up the series with a match still to play.
Chasing a mammoth total, India were reduced to 79/3 in the 18th over with Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shubman Gill all back to the pavilion. But a 99-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson brought the visitors back in the contest before Axar Patel took the Men in Blue home.
Aakash Chopra was all praise for Axar, who is fondly called ‘Bapu’, while reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He stated:
“Bapu sehat ke liye tu to haanikaarak hai. Axar Patel, where are your feet, because it was worth staying awake through the night and watching the match. He won the match by hitting a six at the end, scored the first fifty of his career.”[sic]
Axar joined Deepak Hooda in the middle following Sanju Samson’s dismissal, with India needing 107 runs in 11.2 overs with five wickets in hand. The duo strung together a 51-run partnership in less than six overs to keep the visitors’ hopes alive before Axar took the team home with a six.
“He is becoming a giant of the ODI format” – Aakash Chopra on Shreyas Iyer
Chopra also has pointed out that Shreyas Iyer is becoming a batting giant for Team India in ODI cricket. Shreyas scored 63 runs off 71 deliveries in the second ODI and helped the side rebuild the chase before Axar chased down the target.
“Shreyas Iyer – he is becoming a giant of the ODI format. He has struck one century, he has 11 half-centuries, he has played just 25-odd ODI matches in total, and he is gun, Aakash Chopra said while praising Iyer.
Shreyas has amassed 1064 runs at an impressive average of 42.56 in the 29 ODIs he has played thus far. The Mumbai batter has breached the 50-run mark in 12 of his 26 innings in the format, including a 103-run knock against New Zealand a couple of years back.
