Indian cricket team registered a nervy victory over the mighty island nation. The management’s decision to include Axar Patel in the playing 11 actually worked in the favor. Axar Patel may not have got the crucial wickets but his partnership with the tail-enders proved to be the difference in the end.
India has qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final which is slated for 17th September (*Sunday). Skipper Rohit Sharma would be pumped up as the side from nowhere won the contest against Sri Lanka. India though has a last league fixture against Bangladesh and we can expect that key players will be rested to manage the workload ahead of the Australia ODI series and WC 2023.
Axar Patel didn’t get any turn which is a matter of concern- Salman Butt
Salman Butt was having an interaction on his YouTube channel and was furious with Axar Patel and made a shocking statement about the spinner. Salman Butt was quite shocked that Axar Patel didn’t get any turn and Butt said that even the part-time spinner Charith Asalanka took 4 wickets but Axar Patel failed to grab eyeballs.
“When you see Axar Patel’s bowling, he is not on par with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. No doubt his batting is quite good, but if he didn’t get any turn on this wicket, where will he? There was so much turn on offer that even Charith Asalanka picked up four wickets. However, Axar Patel didn’t get any turn, which is a matter of concern,” said Salman Butt.
Delight for India
It seems that Ishan Kishan is making a strong case for himself ahead of ODI WC 2023. We should not forget that the left handed batter come into the team in place of Shreyas Iyer who reportedly has a back spasm which is not a serious injury & Iyer is a sure starter.
Head coach Rahul Dravid would be slightly bothered after the failure of top order against Sri Lanka. The likes of Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli looked clueless against the tyro spinner Dunith Wellalage. Perhaps, the batters should make use of the crease and disturb the rhythm of the spinner.