AHMEDABAD: India left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Wednesday said his plan to bowl wicket-to-wicket on a “skidding” Motera surface reaped rich dividends for him on the opening day of the day-night third Test against England here.
Patel and senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin exploited the turning Motera pitch at the newly-inaugurated Narendra Modi stadium to the full to bundle out England for 112 in their first innings in just 48.4 overs after the visitors opted to bat.
Patel (21.4-6-38-6) grabbed his second five-for in his second Test while Ashwin (16-6-26-3) took three.
“When things are going for you, you need to capitalise. My aim was to bowl wicket to wicket and use the help on offer. In Chennai, the ball wasn’t skidding. But here it was skidding which resulted in more LBW decisions,” Axar said at the press conference after the day’s play.
“The pink ball had more glare, so it was skidding more after pitching. I got more skid on this wicket than Chennai.”
Axar said he was confident of doing well here after his performance in the second Test in Chennai, where he picked up a five-wicket haul in his debut.
“I didn’t expect to pick six wickets on the opening day but obviously, I was confident after picking up five wickets in Chennai,” he said.
“The Chennai performance gave me confidence that I can do well with the pink ball and if the wickets support, I can put the batsmen under difficulty.”
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In Pics: Axar, Rohit put India on top against England in pink-ball Test
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Spinner Axar Patel claimed a career-best 6-38 as India bundled out England for 112 on the opening day to put themselves in the box seat in the day-night third Test in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. (BCCI Photo)
Rohit Sharma then helped the hosts weather a top-order wobble of their own and finish an eventful 13-wicket day on 99-3. Rohit was batting on 57 at stumps with Ajinkya Rahane on one at the other end with India eyeing a handy first-innings lead. (BCCI Photo)
Earlier, Joe Root’s decision to bat backfired as the tourists folded in 48.4 overs inside two seasons despite Zak Crawley’s stroke-filled 53. Crawley dealt mostly in boundaries and brought up his fifty off 68 balls. (BCCI Photo)
Playing his 100th Test, seamer Ishant Sharma dismissed Dom Sibley in the third over before the spinners took over. (ANI Photo)
Before Crawley’s partnership with Root could really flourish, R Ashwin (3-26) intervened. The wily off-spinner dismissed Root lbw for 17. The England captain reviewed the decision but could not get it overturned. (BCCI Photo)
Patel ended Crawley’s knock in similar fashion to trigger a batting collapse and England lost their last eight wickets for 38 runs. (BCCI Photo)
India did not find scoring easy either against the swinging pink ball in the final session. The usually fluent Shubman Gill took 27 balls to open his account while Rohit mixed caution with occasional aggression in his unbeaten fifty. (BCCI Photo)
Jofra Archer dismissed Gill for 11 and Jack Leach removed Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck but Rohit’s 64-run partnership with Virat Kohli helped India maintain their upper hand in the contest. (BCCI Photo)
Ollie Pope dropped Kohli at gully but Leach dismissed him when the India captain chopped a delivery onto his stumps to depart for 27 in the final over. (BCCI Photo)
Around 40,000 fans thronged the world’s largest cricket stadium which was named after India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (TOI Photo)
He revealed that contrary to expectations, the ball was not turning much and that’s why he and Ashwin concentrated on bowling at the stumps.
Axar said as the ball was skidding more, he focussed on under-cutting his deliveries.
“The wicket was skidding so I was focussing more on under-cutting the ball. I tried to bowl a lot faster so that I can take more advantage with the new ball,” he said.
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