"This is the spirit of Indian cricket that we talk about"- Dinesh Karthik hailed Axar Patel & Suryakumar Yadav for their fightback

Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik believes the biggest positive from India's 16-run loss against Sri Lanka on January 5 was the resilience shown by Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav.

Chasing 207, the hosts were reeling at 57/5 in the 10th over and needed almost 15 runs an over from that stage to pull off an incredible win. However, Axar and Yadav's phenomenal partnership of 91 from just 42 balls gave the Men in Blue a shot at winning the game.

Even after Yadav was dismissed for 51 off 36, Shivam Mavi walked out to bat and played an incredible cameo (26 off 15) to keep India's chances alive. Speaking to Cricbuzz, here's what Dinesh Karthik had to say about the fightback:

"This is the spirit of Indian cricket that we talk about. The never-say-die attitude that they showed required a lot of mental fortitude as the game looked dead and buried.

"Surya wasn't his usual self today, but the kind of innings that he (Axar) played today, especially taking on his match-up Hasaranga was exhilarating to watch. Easily the most entertaining two games we have had in a long time."

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Axar Patel just didn't give up although task looked beyond him: Ajay Jadeja

Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja, who was also present on the panel, also hailed Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel. He specifically lauded Axar for his sensational 65 from just 30 balls. The southpaw came out all guns blazing and helped SKY shift gears after a sedate start as well.

On this, Jadeja stated:

"The biggest highlight for me was the fighting spirit that the Indian team showed, especially Axar. He just didn't give up although it seemed like the task was beyond his reach. Sri Lanka won that game in the first five overs, but hats off to the spirit shown by them (Axar & Suryakumar Yadav)."

India will now hope to seal the series by a 2-1 margin when they meet Sri Lanka for the third and final T20I on Saturday, January 7.

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India's squad vs Sri Lanka: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar.