India all-rounder Axar Patel claims he has learned from his “past mistake” of letting the size of boundaries determine his shot selection. This was clear from the way he targeted the more distant sides during Thursday’s fourth Twenty20 International against Australia at Gold Coast.
After being asked to bat, Axar’s 11-ball 21, which included a four and a six against Marcus Stoinis in the final over, was crucial in helping India reach a competitive 167.
After the first game was washed out, India won the fourth match by 48 runs to establish an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
“Obviously I knew it was tough because wickets were falling back to back. The message that I got from the dressing room was to take it to the last over because there weren’t any batsmen after me,” Axar said in a video interview with teammate and fellow all-rounder Shivam Dube, posted on bcci.tv.
“So I thought I would take a chance in the last over. The side boundaries were big but I thought if I could hold my shape and watch the ball, I could clear them,” he said.
“I have felt in the past that if I think about the size of the boundary and don’t hit towards those sides, they become predetermined shots and because of that we make mistakes. I learnt from past mistakes and played my shots here,” he added.
On Saturday, Brisbane will host the fifth and final Twenty20 International.
In addition to his noteworthy runs, the 31-year-old Axar took a couple of wickets, earning him the player of the match award.
Dube questioned him about his wickets, particularly the LBW dismissal of Matthew Short, which was the outcome of an accurate review by Axar after consulting with Jitesh Sharma.
Although he doesn’t usually enjoy reviews, Axar stated he took a chance this time.
“I’m never ready to take a review. But when the ball hit (his pads) this time, I think it stayed low. And the kind of action that I have, I bowl a little wide off the crease. So I always feel that the ball will hit outside the wicket or go from an angle,” he explained.
“But in this I knew that the ball was hitting and (although) it could have been a little outside the off stump, we could take a chance on umpire’s call and when I spoke to Jitu, he said ‘Axar it’s inside, I mean in the middle’.
“So I said ‘yes we can take a chance’,” he recollected.
Regarding his overall bowling plan during the match, Axar stated that he was trying to be economical because the wicket wasn’t helping spinners.
“As a spinner, I felt like, it was important for me to contain. I was looking at that and bowling wicket to wicket because I was not getting much spin but I was getting a little bit of bounce because of the dew. The ball was skidding a lot,” he said.
