[Watch] 4, 6, 4 - Axar Patel finishes a dominant Day 2 in style for India against England in first Test
Indian all-rounder Axar Patel looked in no mood to shut shop for Stumps on Day 2 of the ongoing Test against England in Hyderabad as he cashed in on the run-scoring opportunities provided by the visitors.
Ben Stokes had an attacking field for Tom Hartley, sniffing the opportunity for a wicket at the stroke of Stumps. However, Axar looked at the final over of the day as an opportunity to pile more misery on the opposition.
The southpaw drilled a delivery from Hartley down the ground past mid-on, before smashing him for a six over mid-wicket. Axar Patel once again peppered that region on the final ball of the day and got a boundary to stretch India's lead to 175 runs at Stumps.
Here's the video of the carnage:
Axar (35* off 62) has already added 63 runs for the eighth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (81* off 155) as the hosts have a mammoth 421/7 on the board. Their all-round ability gives India the batting depth in home conditions and an opportunity here to bat the opposition out of the Test match.
India in the driver's seat after a day of pure dominance
It was a great start to the day for England as Joe Root dismissed the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal in the very first over. Shubman Gill also departed later, throwing his wicket away in a bid to release the pressure of dot balls.
However, KL Rahul, who came in at No. 4 in Virat Kohli's absence, made a crucial contribution of 86. He added 64 runs with Shreyas Iyer and then 65 more with Ravindra Jadeja to put the hosts ahead in the game.
They still needed a meaningful lower-order contribution to tighten the screws on England and the partnership between Jadeja and Axar has done exactly that. The visitors will go into Day 3 under extreme pressure.