Axar Patel
Axar Patel. Image Credits: Twitter

Indian left-arm spinner Axar Patel became the 9th Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul on his debut in the second Test against England at Chennai on Tuesday. Axar Patel bowled superbly to pick up five wickets in the second innings which allowed India to level the series 1-1 with a huge 317 run margin. Axar did not play the first Test due to injury and his inclusion for this Test was a massive boost for India.

Axar’s sidearm action at a good pace into the turning pitch made it really tough for the England batsman and he finished with 7 wickets in the match overall. In Jadeja’s absence, Axar had produced a great performance in his debut Test making a strong case for himself in the upcoming test. The next pink ball Test will be held in the new Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 24.

Axar Patel
Axar Patel. [Image Credits: Twitter]

Axar Joins An Elite List Of Indian Cricketers

Axar Patel in the process of getting his maiden five-wicket haul has joined an elite list of Indian cricketers who have taken five-wicket hauls in their debut. Mohammad Nissar, Vaman Kumar, S Abid Ali, Dilip Doshi, Narendra Hirwani (Picked 5-for in both innings), Amit Mishra, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami are the other eight cricketers to do so and Axar will be happy to have his name among those players.

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Axar was also the second left-arm spinner after Dilip Doshi to pick a fifer in the debut Test. His bowling partner R Ashwin is also part of the list when he picked up 6 wickets for 47 runs against West Indies in 2011/12 in his debut Test. Among the nine cricketers in the elite list, only three are fast bowlers while six of them have been spinners which shows the amount of dominance India has had with their spin attack.

axar patel
axar patel[photo:DNA India]

“It Was A Good Experience” – Axar Patel

Axar mentioned that it was a good experience for him to get a fifer on debut and he noted about the pitch helped him a lot. He revealed the way he deceived the English batsman with his speed variations and by bowling tight lines to make the batsman make mistakes.

“It was a good experience, to get a five-wicket haul on debut is special. As Kuldeep said, there was much happening on the pitch.

“It was about varying your speed and I just kept doing it. Forced the batsman to make mistakes. On the first day itself, it was turning. So, we bowled tight lines and got the rewards,” Axar Patel said after the match.

Akshar Patel
Axar Patel. Credits: BCCI

Axar Patel has been in and out of the side in recent years and a good performance in this series might push his name back in the reckonings.

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