"I tried to stick to my strengths," says Axar Patel following 20-run win over Australia
Dec 01, 2023
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 1 : Following India's 20-run win against Australia in the fourth T20I match at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday, 'Men in Blue' spinner Axar Patel said that he was trying to stick his strength.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Axar said that having an attacking and strong mindset is important to win a game in the T20I format.
He also added that he tried to improve himself and add new variations to his bowling when he was injured.
"I was trying a lot of things when I was at home and it came out well today. I tried to stick to my strengths and wasn't really bothered even I had gotten hit and bowling stump-to-stump was the key to negate the dew factor. To stay attacking and be mentally strong is important as there is every chance to get hit in this format. When you go with an attitude to pick wickets, will feel much better. During the (injury) break I focussed on improving myself and add new variations to my bowling to remain successful at the highest level," he said.
Recapping the match, Rinku Singh (46 runs from 29 balls) and Jitesh Sharma (35 runs from 19 balls) played a solid 66-run partnership in the first inning to help India score 174 runs on the scoreboard.
Ben Dwarshuis led the Aussie bowling attack after he scalped three wickets and gave 40 runs. Meanwhile, Behrendorff and Sangha bagged two wickets each.
In the run chase, Aussie skipper Matthew Wade (36 runs from 23 balls) was the only stand-out batter for the away side but still, he could not help his team to clinch a win in the game.
Axar was named the 'Player of the Match' after he bagged three wickets. Deepak Chahar also picked up two wickets in the game and helped India to win their third match of the series.
