"They will spin it back into the left-handers" - Rohit Sharma breaks silence on Axar Patel's batting promotion

India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on the team management's decision to send Axar Patel up the order during the first ODI against England at Nagpur. Axar came in to bat at No. 5 ahead of the highly dependable KL Rahul.

It was hugely surprising to see Axar ahead of Rahul in the beginning. However, the move turned out to be a masterstroke as Axar's knock played a key role in India's victory. The left-hander stitched an important partnership with Shubman Gill to bring up his half-century.

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Rohit Sharma breaks silence on Axar Patel's batting promotion

While speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma opened up on the planning behind sending Axar Patel above KL Rahul. Rohit was clear in his approach that he wanted a left-hander to counter England's leg spin and left-arm spin threat in the middle which prompted Axar to bat at No. 5.

"We wanted a leftie in the middle. It is as simple as that. We know they will spin it back into the left-handers, so we wanted a leftie. Gill and Axar batted brilliantly out in the middle. Nothing specific," Rohit said.

Axar Patel's promotion helped India create a left-right combination in the middle which not only disturbed England's bowlers but also helped in countering the threat that Adil Rashid was possessing with his leg spin bowling.

Axar Patel's brilliant knock

Axar Patel struck a valiant half-century to score a counter-attacking 52 off 47 balls. He struck 6 fours and 1 six during his knock. The left-hander wasn't afraid to play his shots and helped Gill with an excellent partnership.

Axar joined Gill in the middle after Shreyas Iyer was out after playing a blinder. Both of them put together a partnership of 108 runs for the fourth wicket and took India closer to the target.

However, the partnership was broken after Axar Patel was completely bamboozled by Adil Rashid's slow leg break from around the wicket. But he had already done his job by then. KL Rahul arrived next to bat at No.6 but couldn't trouble the scorers much.

Plenty of positives for India

It was a terrific performance from India who dominated most part of the match. There were plenty of positives for the home team from this game. Ravindra Jadeja and Harshit Rana shone with the ball by taking three wickets each while Mohammed Shami made an impressive comeback in ODIs.

In reply, India reached the target of 249 runs on the back of a brilliant knock from Shubman Gill, who smashed 87 off 96 balls. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel complemented him well with vital half-centuries.

India are now 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The next ODI will be played in Cuttack on February 9. The Men in Blue will be looking to seal the series but the focus will be on Virat Kohli who is expected to come back into the Playing XI.