Jos Buttler devastated after shock dismissal, Gautam Gambhir claps the table even as Axar Patel can't stop laughing
Jos Buttler was furious after getting dismissed by an ordinary delivery from Axar Patel. India head coach Gautam Gambhir was jubilliant in the dressing room.
Axar Patel has bowled many good deliveries in his career. He wasn't rewarded for all of those. But like all other bowlers, he shouldn't have too many complaints. Why, you ask? If he complains about those unlucky days, then he can't be a beneficiary of the lucky ones. The 33rd over of the India vs England 1st ODI in Nagpur was one of those lucky events for Axar Patel. It was exactly the opposite for England captain Jos Buttler.
After doing all the hard work and getting to a well-earned half-century, just when it was time for Buttler to step the foot on the accelerator, he top-edged a half-tracker from Axar to short fine leg. In the last ball of the over, Axar dragged it down in his pursuit of trying to bowl it quicker. The ball didn't reach Buttler as he would have liked to. He was early into the pull shot and ended up spooning it to Hardik Pandya at short fine leg, who took one of the simplest of catches.
Buttler could not believe his luck. He took some time to get up, and while walking back, he was seen mouthing a few words in frustration. There were opposite scenes in the Indian camp. Axar saw the funny side of it. He knew very well that it was not one of his best deliveries but it resulted in the wicket of Buttler, who was batting on 52 off 67 balls.
When cameras panned towards the Indian dressing room, head coach Gautam Gambhir, who was sitting with batting coach Sitangshu Kotak, was seen tapping the table a few times to express his joy.
The Indian players and the support staff knew that it was a big moment in the game. Buttler was set and the longer he batted, the worse it would have been for the hosts.
England got off to a flying start through Phil Salt and Ben Duckett after Buttler opted to bat first in the series opener. They raced to 75 inside the powerplay when a mix-up between Salt and Duckett resulted in the former's run out in the penultimate ball of the 9th over. India got two more wickets in the next over as debutant Harshit Rana sent back Duckett and Harry Brook.
Joe Root and Buttler steadied the England innings but Jadeja trapped Root for 19 in the 19th over to peg the visitors back again.
