Axar Patel made his Test debut against England and wracked up 27 wickets in the four-match series to make it a memorable one. Majority of his dismissals came with the straighter one, where the ball went on woth the arm after pitching. He has been picked as one of the three spinners in the WTC final squad followed by the England series.
Talking to Indian Express, Axar Patel came up with an interesting observation about England batters and also spoke about the impact of Ravindra Jadeja in the Test side.
England Batsmen Sweep & Reverse Sweep Whenever In Doubt: Axar Patel
“If they are in doubt whether it’s spinning or not, they just play sweeps and reverse-sweeps. If one bowls stump-to-stump, then it gets tough for them but if the ball is pitched outside off-stump or leg-stump they go for the sweep. They don’t read the ball from my hand, instead, they go by where it’s pitched” said Axar.
Axar Patel got a number of wickets via bowled and lbw modes during the home series against England as the opposition batsmen were completely at sea against him. Sharing the varied emotions that went through his mind during the first two Tests, Axar Patel gave an emotional response as it was on his home ground at the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera.
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“A day before that first Test, I had pain in my knee. The doctor said it could be because I was bowling after the lockdown and hadn’t bowled too much. They didn’t know for sure. I went for a scan. was blank, about to make my Test debut. called home and spoke to my mom and dad; I was very nervous. The last time I went to Chennai before this, I was injured. Once I got injured while playing football and now again for the third time. The doctor said, ‘don’t think too much, there is nothing in the scan report.’ And I will be fit for the next game.”
He rounded off by saying that Ravindra Jadeja‘s performance in Test matches has not allowed bowlers like himself and Kuldeep Yadav to get a consistent run in the format.
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