In the ongoing Ahmedabad Test, Australia, who won the toss and chose to bat, amassed a mammoth 480 runs in the first innings, placing India in a difficult situation. As openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who came out to bat towards the end of Day 2, helped India reach 36/0, still trailing by 444 runs at stumps, carrom ball specialist R Ashwin claimed six wickets.
In addition to Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, who replaced Mohammed Siraj in the playing XI, claimed two wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel each claimed one. India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik asked fellow commentator Ravi Shastri an intriguing question as spinners, who have dominated the series, failed to break the mould.
Karthik was quoted by the media on Day 2 asking, “Ravi Bhai, would you have gone with Kuldeep Yadav? “, bringing up the spinner’s absence from all four Tests in the series. Shastri supported Axar over the Chinese spinner, but not before he made a big prediction about the outcome of the series. ‘Really early. But this series would have looked very different if Axar’s batting hadn’t been there. India sought batting strength, and they received it. India would not have been able to be 2-0 if it weren’t for his innings in Delhi. And his performance in Nagpur,” Shastri replied.
Axar has been crucial with the bat, scoring 84 in Nagpur’s opening innings and a valiant 74 in Delhi’s second match as many members of the Indian camp were unable to withstand Nathan Lyon’s Australian spin attack. Axar has 185 runs in four innings, making him the second-highest run scorer among Indian batters right now.
Axar has only managed two wickets in the 67 overs he has bowled in the series, which is far from impressive. While Ashwin and Jadeja, Axar’s teammates, have dominated the bowling charts, Axar has struggled to make an impact with the ball. Despite the fact that the Australian second innings is still to be played, both spinners have taken over 20 wickets between them.
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Shastri added, commenting on Axar’s poor performance with the ball, “You couldn’t have used him earlier (in the series). as a result of the ball’s movement. Ashwin and Jadeja then take over as your main bowlers. But you need him right now. And he did a good job of containing things.
If we examine Axar’s performance during the first innings of the Ahmedabad Test, the spinner allowed 47 runs from 28 overs with the best economy of any Indian bowler (1.70). In fact, Axar’s first 20 over saw just 24 runs allowed.
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