[Watch] "Seems like the Man of the Match will stay between us Patels!" - Harshal Patel and Axar Patel rejoice IND vs NZ 2021 series win fun banter
Harshal Patel and Axar Patel celebrated India's brilliant clean-sweep over New Zealand with some fun banter after the final match on Monday. This included discussions on the duo's performances so far and a cheeky plan to bag all Man of the Match awards for India in the upcoming T20Is.
India won the third T20I in Kolkata by 73 runs. After bravely opting to bat first on a chase-friendly Eden Gardens pitch, India put up 184-7. New Zealand got off to a horrible start in the chase, courtesy of Axar Patel's man-of-the-match spell of 3/9. The Kiwis didn't recover and were bowled out for just 111 in 17.2 overs.
Harshal Patel made a similar impact in Ranchi on debut where his spell of 2/25 led to India's seven-wicket win, while also making it two Man of the Match awards from three games for the Patels. In a video shared by the BCCI on its website, Axar Patel asked Harshal Patel about this performance. In his reply, the Haryana pacer said:
"It was an exceptional feeling. I mean, I didn't expect the debut match to go this well because all my debuts before today have never been this good. But I executed my skills well and the result was also in our favor and we ended up winning the game. I don't know, we haven't decided it but it seems like the Man of the Match will stay between us Patels!"
You can watch more of their banter here.
Axar Patel is adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant figures of 3/9 in the final T20I.
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Suryakumar Yadav was the Man of the Match in the first T20I India chased down 165 in Jaipur to register a five-wicket victory. Sunday's triumph capped the perfect start for the new captain-coach combination of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid in the duo's quest to build a winning team for next year's T20 World Cup.
"The change for me has mainly been in the mindset" - Harshal Patel
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If he continues the performances of the last two years, Harshal Patel will likely be on that flight to Australia. When Axar Patel asked him about the same, how he had become "Purple Patel", Harshal Patel said the only change had been in his mindset which he carried forward from the IPL to here.
Harshal Patel added:
"The change for me has mainly been in the mindset. I had all these skills before as well. The mindset change in the last two years has got me the results. And whatever I did in the IPL, I had decided to carry the same mindset in this series. Those things are working for me and I am very happy about it."
India will now play a two-match Test series against Kane Williamson's team, starting on November 25 in Kanpur. Axar Patel is expected to leave his mark there as well.