IND vs USA: 'Underrated, less celebrated' - Aakash Chopra honors India's unsung hero for heroics vs Pakistan

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has spoken about Axar Patel's contribution in India's win over Pakistan in New York on Sunday. India beat Pakistan by six runs as they defended 120, their lowest ever in T20Is and joint-lowest in T20 World Cups.

Pakistan from a potentially winning position capitulated and lost the game by six runs. Mohammad Rizwan's dismissal in the 15th over changed the game for Pakistan. Needing 18 to win off the final over, The Men Green fell short by six.

Jasprit Bumrah was the Man of the Match for his figures of 3/14. He was well supported by other bowlers with Hardik Pandya taking two and Arshdeep Singh and Axar taking one each.

On a pitch where the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli could not get too many runs, Axar Patel scored 20 off 18 and added a crucial 39-run stand with Rishabh Pant (42) who himself played an important knock.

After scoring 20 crucial runs with the bat, Axar took the wicket of Usman Khan in the 11th over of the Pakistan innings. In the final overs of the match, he bowled crucial dot balls to Imad Wasim who was struggling with the bat.

Also Read: USA vs IND: Hardik Pandya namedropped as Ricky Ponting hails Rohit Sharma's strategic brilliance during India's win vs Pakistan

Aakash Chopra in his recent tweet said that Axar Patel was the most deserving candidate to win the Man of the Match award after Jasprit Bumrah. He said that the all-rounder scored more than the runs added together by Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shivam Dube and this fact needs to be respected.

Aakash Chopra Lauds Axar Patel's Performance Against Pakistan

After Bumrah…it was Axar Patel who put in a POTM performance yesterday. Underrated. Less celebrated. But think about this—
Batted at 4. Scored 20 runs. That’s more than SKY+Dube+Jadeja+Hardik…adding Kohli takes the combined total to 21.
Removes Usman when all other options…

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) J<!---->u<!---->n<!---->e<!----> <!---->1<!---->0<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

"After Bumrah…it was Axar Patel who put in a POTM performance yesterday. Underrated. Less celebrated. But think about this— Batted at 4. Scored 20 runs. That’s more than SKY+Dube+Jadeja+Hardik…adding Kohli takes the combined total to 21" wrote Cjopta in his tweet.

He further said that taking the wicket of Usman Khan and giving away just two runs in the 16th over and restricting Imad Wasim was a job well done. Usman had added 31 with Rizwan and a partnership of around 50 would have shifted the game in Pakistan's favor.

"Removes Usman when all other options were tried without success. Another 15-20 run partnership could’ve been Game, Set and Match. And then the 2-run 16th over. Vs a negative match-up of leftie Imad. What a performance" added Chopra on Axar.

He scored 20 with the bat and bowled a spell of 1 for 11 off his two overs. He bowled good lengths and did not allow the Pakistan batters to attack him which was the best part about his spell. This was a match that was won by the Indian bowlers and they can be proud of their performance.

Pakistan now find themselves in deep waters. They need to win their last two games against Canada and Ireland by big margins. They also need a few favors from other teams as well. USA and India are on four points as well with two more games remaining. One more win for the USA will almost qualify them for the Super 8s.

Pakistan next take on Canada on June 11 and Ireland on June 16.

Also Read: USA vs IND: Aakash Chopra indirectly calls Suryakumar Yadav a 'minnow basher' after failure vs Pakistan