Axar Patel’s six-wicket haul against Tamil Nadu paved the way for Gujarat’s entry into the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the all-rounder admitted that he went against his style of bowling to achieve that success, reports The Hindu.
On Saturday he wreaked havoc on the Tamil Nadu top order, which resulted in equalling Punjab’s Siddharth Kaul as the highest wicket taker in the tournament with 19 wickets with still one game to take the lead.
Axar who was criticised by the legend, Sunil Gavaskar for bowling flat and quick and giving the ball too much air, believed he could answer him back and his figures were the perfect response to his critcs.
After the semi-final victory, Axar said: “The way the wicket was behaving I thought it was better to bowl a little slower. To go against my style and get these wickets with four stumpings and catches in the slips is especially satisfying.
“When the batsmen were new to the crease, seeing the pitch and the situation, I knew they wouldn’t go on the attack immediately. My plan was to make them defend as much as possible. Make them drive the ball, which could bring wickets on this pitch.”
On being asked about Dinesh Karthik’s attacking batting in the very early part of his innings came as a surprise to him or not, Axar commented, “I thought he would see what the ball was doing, and what I was trying to do. Think he stepped out too early, and I got the rewards.”
Axar believes he got the rewards for the mistakes the batsmen made in understanding the slow wicket. He was also asked about this style of his bowling as he is more famous for bowling quicker through the air. Axar said that this kind of bowling is still a “work in progress” for him and he studies the wicket and bowls accordingly.
He concluded, “I look at what the pitch is like and what the batsmen are trying to do. It’s not that I go and bowl slow on every turning pitch. But this pitch had slow turn. So if you bowl slow, you can cause more problems. Sometimes you get a square turner, and there I bowl fast so as to not give the batsmen time to recover.”
Axar’s form will be the key for Gujarat as they face Gautam Gambhir’s Delhi in the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy.
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