With just one wicket in the first three matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Axar Patel found his place in the Indian team becoming a subject of debate. Though the all-rounder scored important runs with the bat, many wondered if selecting Kuldeep Yadav in his place would give the Indian bowling attack a boost. As the subject was being discussed in commentary during the Day 2 of the Ahmedabad Test, cricketing stars like Dinesh Karthik and Ravi Shastri expressed their views in a strong manner.
Karthik, while speaking on-air, asked Ravi Shastri if he would’ve gone with Kuldeep Yadav in the 4th Test. The former India head coach, however, disagreed, saying he would not make the change because of what Axar does with the bat.
“Ravi Bhai, would you have gone with Kuldeep Yadav,” Karthik asked Shastri on-air during the second day’s play, as per Indian Express.
“Very early. But if it wouldn’t have been for Axar’s batting, this series would’ve looked a lot different. India wanted strength in their batting and they got it. Had it not been for his innings in Delhi, India wouldn’t have been able to be 2-0. And his innings in Kanpur,” responded the former India coach.
Elaborating on his suggestion, Shastri said that Axar wasn’t as important with the ball in the previous three Tests but his bowling is of huge importance in Ahmedabad.
“You couldn’t have used him previously (in the series). Because the ball was turning. Then Ashwin and Jadeja become your primary bowlers. But here, you need him. And he’s done the containing job well,” he opined.
As a matter of fact, Axar did go on to give India a big breakthrough as he got rid of Usman Khawaja, who had aggregated 180 runs for Australia in the innings before being dismissed.
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