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India vs England: ‘Forced the batsman to make mistakes’: Axar Patel reveals the story behind his five-for in Chennai
Axar Patel bagged a total of seven wickets in the game including two scalps in the first innings
Indian all-rounder Axar Patel had a dream debut against England in the second Test in Chennai as he claimed his maiden five-wicket haul during England's second innings, helping India win the match by 317 runs and level the 4-match series 1-1.
Axar returned with the figures of 5/60 while Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav picked up three and two scalps respectively to snatch away victory from England.
After the conclusion of the second Test, Axar, who bagged a total of seven wickets in the game, said that variation in speed helped him to get better of English batters on the spin-heavy track.
“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,” Patel told Star Sports.
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Earlier, Ashwin took an eight-wicket haul in the second Test, along with his 106-run knock in the second innings as India registered an emphatic 317-run win on Tuesday.
Following this remarkable win, Virat Kohli-led India remains in the race of ICC World Test Championship final which is scheduled to be held in April 2021 at the Lord’s. They have also propelled to the second position on the points table with 69.7 percentage points. However, they cannot afford to lose another match as they would need to win the series either 2-1 or 3-1 to qualify.
England, on the other hand, have slipped to the fourth spot with 67.0 percentage points. They can still qualify, but for that, they must win both remaining matches of the series against India.
(With Agency Inputs)
