"Our combination was going very well in Gujarati" - Axar Patel on his partnership with Ravindra Jadeja in 1st IND vs AUS Test

Axar Patel has said that he gelled well with Ravindra Jadeja in the middle during India's first innings of the first Test against Australia while communicating with each other in Gujarati.

Axar and Jadeja strung together an unbroken 81-run partnership for the eighth wicket on Day 2 in Nagpur on Friday, February 10. Their stand helped Rohit Sharma and Co. end the day at 321/7 after having bowled out the Aussies for 177 in their first innings on Day 1.

In an interview with Star Sports, Axar Patel was asked about his partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, to which he responded:

"I was finding it slightly difficult when I went in initially. The ball was bouncing and spinning a little. The ball was also new, so it was hard. But when I spoke to Jaddu, he told me that it will keep getting easier the more time I spend at the crease. Our combination was going very well in Gujarati."

The spin-bowling all-rounder added that the duo spoke about not losing their focus, stating:

"So that is what I was doing. When I spent some time, it became slightly easier. The talk was that we should not lose our focus because anything can happen as an odd ball can turn or skid."

When you get past Pujara, Virat, Rohit, and then you've to deal with Jadeja and Axar 😄 Brilliant partnership between @imjadeja & @akshar2026 👏🏽 #INDvAUS #BGT2023 https://t.co/orx0wws41L

Jadeja was unbeaten on 66 at the close of play, a knock studded with nine fours. Axar has struck eight boundaries in his 52-run knock.

"I was making my initial movement a little early" - Axar Patel on facing the Aussie seamers with the new ball

Axar Patel looked at ease after spending some time in the middle. [P/C: BCCI]

Axar Patel was further asked by Sanjay Bangar about the adjustments he made against the Aussie pacers, taking the bounce into account, to which he replied:

"The only adjustment I made was that when the ball was slightly new, I was making my initial movement a little early. Jaddu told me that the ball is coming quickly after skidding. Then when it became a little softer, it was coming slightly slower off the wicket, and I was making the adjustment accordingly."

The Gujarat all-rounder was finally asked about how the Indian team are looking at the third day, to which he responded:

"When we went to bat today as well, our only thinking was that we don't want to open the door even slightly for the opposition team, so we wanted to extend our innings as much as possible. Whenever you feel that you might get slightly relaxed, that shouldn't happen. We will extend our lead as much as possible and then come to bowl."

Jadeja and Axar are two left-handed batters batting at 7 and 9 respectively. #JustSaying #IndvAus

India currently have a first-innings lead of 144 runs with three wickets in hand. They will hope to extend it beyond the 200-run mark at least, considering that they might have to bat last on a deteriorating pitch and will thus not want to chase a big fourth-innings target.