Team India spinner Axar Patel is delighted with their performance in the first innings of the first Test against England on Thursday, January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. He expressed that it’s a challenging surface, as oddball getting some turn.
Team India bowled England out for 246 runs in the first innings. The spinners had the upper hand over them, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picking three wickets each. Axar Patel also took two crucial wickets in the innings, dismissing Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes. His delivery to dismiss Bairstow left everyone amazed. Talking about the Bairstow dismissal, Axar Patel said,
“I was thinking of bowling wicket-to-wicket line as much as possible because Bairstow had the fourth stump guard to avoid the LBW. So we were hoping that one delivery would turn the other away from the end I was bowling because some oddballs were turning some weren’t and this one turned and you could see that I enjoyed that wicket a lot with my celebrations.”
Axar Patel further said, “They made 246 and we knew the wicket was good and it was only the oddball that was spinning, and importantly this wicket is slow, so it is easier to adjust to the spin. I don’t think the ball was spinning that much, it was a normal spin as I said, the ball is not skidding after pitching. Yes, it is a challenging wicket, but if you bat well, you will get runs and if you bowl well you will get wickets.”
Axar Patel opens up on India’s bowling plans
Axar Patel further also spoke about India’s bowling plans during the test. He expressed that they tried to take advantage of England’s slightly attacking approach. The Indian batters resorted to the sweep shot during the innings. India placed the fielders to trap them while going for shots. Axar Patel said,
“England were playing attacking cricket, but for me, I was focused on my bowling – I was thinking I would focus on my line and length, and adjust according to how the pitch is playing and that is what I did during my spell
“They were hitting a lot of sweeps and reverse sweeps, so with the captain, the discussion was where to place the fielders. If you had noticed, we had the point fielder back specifically for the reverse sweeps. If they play these shots off good deliveries, we cannot do much, but because they were going for their shots we knew we had the chance to take wickets,” he added.
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