In Nagpur, India and Australia are neck and neck in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Despite India’s enormous 144-run lead at the conclusion of Day 2, Australia has made it very tough for the Indian hitters to play free-flowing cricket. Rohit Sharma blasted a superb century to put India in command. He had strong combinations with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, ensuring India took an early lead.
With the dismissals of Rohit and KS Bharat, Axar Patel joined Ravindra Jadeja at the crease and ensured that India maintained a sizable advantage. The spin pair reached their fifties and continued to score runs for the team. The spin-twins will want to increase India’s advantage even more on Day 3 now that they have settled in beautifully.
Axar Patel discussed his relationship and communication with Jadeja on the Star Sports programme. He said, “When I first walked in, I was having some difficulty. The ball was bouncing around and twirling slightly. The ball was also brand new, so it was tough. Yet, when I talked with Jaddu, he assured me that the more time I spent at the crease, the simpler it would get. In Gujarati, our combo was working really well.”
The left-arm spinner then stressed the need of maintaining concentration. He said, “That’s exactly what I was doing. That grew significantly easier after some time. We were warned not to lose attention because anything might happen, just as an odd ball may spin or slide.”
The first challenge for Australia would be to dispatch the tail early on Day 3 and then bat the whole day to remain in the Test match. Axar and Jadeja will be hoping to hit some solid strokes in the early session to extend India’s advantage.
