Axar Patel talked about his approach during the crucial part of a big tournament. The Indian bowler said he aimed to bowl well at the beginning and end of each innings. Axar put his plan into action by taking Jonny Bairstow’s wicket on the first ball of his over. He took 3 wickets in total and was named Player of the Match for his performance. India defeated England by 68 runs, advancing to the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The Indian team ended a 10-year wait by reaching the final of the T20 World Cup.
The ball was spinning quickly and staying close to the ground, and the Indian spin bowlers used the conditions effectively. Axar was given his first chance to bowl during the powerplay, and with his very first ball, he tricked England’s captain Jos Buttler into playing a reverse-sweep, which led to a very important wicket for India. The England team struggled against the spin bowling, and Axar was supported well by Kuldeep Yadav, who also took three important wickets.
Axar shared a glimpse of his thinking process while bowling in a high-stakes game like this one.
“I didn’t aim to take a wicket with the first ball. My goal was to bowl accurately. In crucial matches, you want to perform well from the first ball to the last. That was my focus. Each time I got a wicket, it was a bonus. It was tough to score big hits, and it was also hard to play the sweep or reverse sweep because if the ball was low on this pitch, it was difficult to hit it well,” Axar explained during the post-match press conference.
Axar talked about the crucial wicket of Buttler, who got out while trying a reverse-sweep.
“Batsmen are unsure if they sweep and the ball is low, they might hit it on their pad. It depends on the line and length of the ball. Our spinners mostly aimed between the stumps. So, it was tough to score runs with the sweep on this pitch.”
“To hit forward, you need to move forward as much as possible. But from the videos, we saw that their batsmen are slightly back footed, so it wasn’t easy for them. They had to move their leg out and step forward to play on this pitch, no matter what type of pitch it is,” Axar explained.
India will play against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final on June 29, Sunday.
