"Without his batting, you wouldn't be 2-1" - Dinesh Karthik on Axar Patel's performances in IND vs AUS Test series
Dinesh Karthik believes that all-rounder Axar Patel played a big role in Team India's 2-1 Test series win in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, the senior wicketkeeper pointed out that although Axar failed to make a significant impact with the ball, he did an exceptional job as a batter. Lauding the southpaw for his brilliant run against the Aussies, Karthik stated:
"Without his batting, you wouldn't be 2-1. I think his bowling was good, nothing great this series, but his batting was phenomenal. I think his batting overshadowed his bowling."
Axar had little to do with the ball in the series, with premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja taking the center stage. He managed to pick up just three wickets from seven innings.
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However, he emerged as one of India's top batters, aggregating 264 runs from five innings at an average of 88.00. He was the only player to cross the 50-run mark on three occasions in the series.
"He was without a doubt the best Indian batter" - Dinesh Karthik on Axar Patel's batting exploits
Dinesh Karthik further stated that Axar Patel was very impressive on the challenging Indian wickets and looked very confident while defending the ball.
He opined that the 29-year-old was the best Indian batter in the four-match Test series against Australia. Elaborating on Axar's batting, he added:
"The only person to get three fifties straightaway. That is a phenomenal achievement, considering where he bats. He was not out in both the innings in the Indore Test.
"Forget the scores, and leave the results out, just the confidence he had in defence on turning tracks, as a batter when I looked at it, he was without a doubt the best Indian batter in this BGT series by a distance."
Axar Patel starred with the bat in the fourth and final Test of the series, coming up with a brilliant 79-run knock. He will look to continue his form in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia.
The opening encounter will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, March 17.
India's ODI squad for Australia series
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, and Jaydev Unadkat.