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Axar Patel Shines with All-Round Performance on Duleep Trophy's Opening Day
Axar Patel Shines with All-Round Performance on Duleep Trophy's Opening Day
Axar Patel's all-round performance light up first day of Duleep Trophy.
Axar Patel showed his capability to be one of the strongest rounder players of the team on the first day of the Duleep Trophy and was able to score a great half-century and put the India D team form severe trouble. He then returned and took two wickets in two overs, making sure that the game, which could have gone against his team, was now evenly poised.
The ground of Anantapur proves to be the right choice and a fast-bowler-friendly venue for the players. A wicket goes out in the initial over of the game, which sets a trend of players going early as Team C decided to bowl first, and cuts out the opposition’s top order and leaves them 34 for 5. Even the less experienced players in the Indian Test team struggled, with Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal scoring 9 and 0. The Karnataka fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak caused most of the damage and remained a threat throughout the day, ending with figures of 3 wickets for 19 runs off 12 overs.
On the Seventh Number, Axar Patel stepped into the field but only in the eleventh over he faced a tough ball. He has made some contributions from the down order in Test cricket of India but never got into such situations like this one while playing international cricket. Axar reacted aggressively, scoring 86 runs from 118 deliveries, including six fours and six sixes. He guided India D's lower order, creating an 84-run partnership with Arshdeep Singh (13) for the ninth wicket. Despite his efforts, his team's total was limited to 164.
India C didn't have a good start, as both B Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad got out cheaply. Harshit Rana took two wickets in his first spell and ended the day with figures of 2 wickets for 13 runs. Axar also took two wickets quickly when he started bowling. One of the batsmen he dismissed was Rajat Patidar, who is good at playing spin. India C finished the day at 91 for 4, still behind by 73 runs.
End of Day's Play
Day 1 : India D 1st innings 164/10 (Axar Patel 86, Vijaykumar Vyshak : 3/19)
Day 1 : India C 1st innings 91/4 (Baba Indrajith 15*, Abishek Porel 32*)