Axar Patel exposes Suryakumar Yadav's weakness; leaks bowling strategy to rival teams
India's allrounder Axar Patel has revealed the way to bowl to Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar Yadav has the ability to play shots to every corner of the ground which makes him a difficult batter for any bowler. If he gets going, he can be among the most dangerous batters in the world.
During India's first Super 8 match against Afghanistan on June 20, Suryakumar showed his full range of strokes as he smashed a blistering 53 off just 28 balls to take India to a competitive score.
His innings included 5 fours and 3 sixes. Two of those sixes were against Afghanistan's best bowlers of the day, Rashid Khan and Fazahaq Farooqi. His consecutive sweep shots off Rashid Khan were a treat to watch as they put the pressure back on Afghanistan.
Axar Patel reveals the plan to bowl to Suryakumar Yadav
During the post-match press conference, Axar Patel was asked about the way to bowl to a batter like Suryakumar Yadav. The left-arm spinner believes that adjusting the line and length against such batters plays a crucial part.
"It's important to stay ahead of the game and stay one step ahead of the batter in T20s. Obviously, we prepare with videos and other stuff and I try to see where the batter is going to hit me for runs. I cover those bases and bowl accordingly and try to predict whether he is going to sweep or play any other particular shot, and I adjust my line and length for that," Axar explained.
Patel also mentioned that he tries to bowl full if the batter is trying to sweep him in order to make him uncomfortable.
"I try to bowl a little full to make him uncomfortable. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't because the batter also comes prepared. So yeah, this is my plan when I am bowling to good batters," he said.
Good game for Axar Patel as India shows its strength
Axar Patel also had a good match as he made crucial contributions with both bat and ball. With the bat, he made a quickfire 12 off 6 balls, which included 2 fours in the final over. Patel was run out in the last ball of the match. With the ball, he picked up the important wicket of Ibrahim Zadran in the powerplay to start Afghanistan's slide.
Meanwhile, India showed its strength as they defeated Afghanistan comprehensively by 47 runs. The Men in Blue were put in a spot of bother while batting but Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya made important contributions to lead the team to a respectable total.
With the ball, Jasprit Bumrah led the way as he produced astonishing figures of 3-7 in four overs. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh complemented him well with three wickets.
India's next match will be against Bangladesh on June 22 in Antigua. Following that, Rohit Sharma and his men will move to St. Lucia for their final Super 8 clash against Australia on June 24.
