India levelled the three-match T20I series against Australia, winning the Nagpur T20I by six wickets in a rain-curtailed tie. Rohit Sharma was in awe of Axar Patel's bowling, labelling him as an all-stage bowler.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was exceptionally pleased with leg-spinner Axar Patel's bowling effort. Also, he is eagerly waiting to see his batting during crunch moments after the spin all-rounder revelled in the side's sic-wicket win during the second Twenty20 International (T20I) against Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Friday. The left-arm spinner gained a couple of wickets -- Glenn Maxwell and Tim David -- besides conceding just 13 runs in his two overs in the must-win contest for his team.
"Axar can bowl in any stage, gives me an advantage of using the other bowlers in different situations too - maybe use the pacers in the middle overs if he bowls in the powerplay. I would also like to see his batting, " Rohit said during the post-match presentation. The skipper begot a match-winning unbeaten knock of 46, including a gigantic 90-metre six off pacer Josh Hazlewood.
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"I was quite surprised as well. I didn't expect to hit it like that. Glad it came off. For the last eight-nine months, I have been playing like that. You can't plan too much in such a shortened game. The bowlers had something to bowl to, and we bowled well. The dew started coming in later, which is why we saw a few full tosses from Harshal," added Rohit.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah's fitness was among the talking points before the game, while there were speculations around the same after he did not play the series-opener. However, on Friday night, he looked like he was getting back his rhythm, but Rohit approved that he and his team won't analyse him much right now.
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"Coming back after a couple of months, the back injury can be tricky. I am not going to talk too much about how he bowled. Got us the crucial wicket. As a team, we are not going to analyse too much. Just want him to come and enjoy," Rohit attested. He also explained that he let wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik come ahead of Rishabh Pant for a rationale.
Karthik faced just a couple of deliveries and pulled off a six and four to hand India the victory in style. "Glad DK could finish well. It has been a while since he had some time in the middle. There was this thought if we should get Rishabh in, but I thought Sams is going to bowl off-cutters, so I thought let DK come in, and he is playing that role anyway for us," illustrated Rohit.
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Karthik explained his thought process during the final over: "As a middle-order batter, it is about execution. It feels good to hit the winning runs. Rohit with the bat and Axar with the ball stood out. Good to see Bumrah back. We need to take the momentum forward. 1-1 is a good score. You want to play those crunch games. But, more importantly, we are happy to have put up a show for the crowd with no injuries."
Australian captain Aaron Finch too recognised India's leading performers -- Rohit and Axar. "Rohit played brilliantly, and two overs of Axar made the difference. Wade is a calm customer at the back end and has grown into that finisher's role. Zampa was good too," he stated.
(With inputs from PTI)