|
Axar Patel played a gritty knock of 74 against Australia on second day of the second Test match being played here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The southpaw was in good form coming into the Test match performing against New Zealand and Sri Lanka on home soil. In the first Test match in Nagpur too, he scored 84 with the bat and took one wicket.
"Nothing like that. It depends on the day, depends on the confidence level and on the frame of mind. Like I just said, I came from white-ball cricket and was in good touch in the first match as well so that is the confidence level I am carrying forward. It eventually depends on how long you can maintain that consistency," said Axar Patel at a press conference. Axar Patel is happy with the fact that he is coverting his starts into big scores and helping his team. In Nagpur Test, his 84-run knock helped India score 400 runs in first innings and his 74-run knock in Delhi Test helped India score 262 runs after being in a precarious situation at 139/7. "I felt that whatever I did, I was doing halfway - if I scored runs, I was getting out for 30s and 40s, and at crucial times, I was not able to finish matches when I needed to. The main thing was mindset - what's going through your mind," Axar Patel said. Axar Patel was involved in a crucial 114-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin which helped India reach a respectable total in the first innings and that denied Australia a big first-innings lead. Australia were ahead by just one run. The left-arm spinner remained wicket-less in the first innings but he made it up with his contributions with the bat. "As an allrounder, sometimes you can feel you've taken wickets, you've done your job, and you can become a little casual. I wanted to improve that aspect of my batting - my concentration levels after getting to 30, to tell myself that I should carry on and finish this match. This is how I think when I bat now, and this is the difference that's come into my batting in the last one-and-a-half years," said Axar Patel. Axar Patel's contribution with both bat and ball is making him an asset for the side and his contributions with the bat lower down the order are adding crucial runs to the team's total. (ANI)
|
