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India all-rounder Axar Patel revealed that he got advice from the dressing room to take the batting to the last over during the 4th T20I against Australia. Axar's 11-ball 21, laced with a four and a six in the last over off Marcus Stoinis, played a crucial role in India's breaching the 160-mark and posting 167, which Australia fell short by 48 runs.
Dressing room's advice to Axar Patel
After winning the fourth T20I, Suryakumar Yadav-led India takes an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series after the first game was washed out.
"Obviously I knew it was tough because wickets were falling back to back. The message that I got from the dressing room was to take it to the last over because there weren't any batsmen after me," Axar said in a video interview with teammate and fellow all-rounder Shivam Dube, posted by the 'bcci.tv'.
"So I thought I would take a chance in the last over. The side boundaries were big but I thought if I could hold my shape and watch the ball, I could clear them," he said.
What Axar learnt from past mistakes
The star all-rounder further revealed that he has learnt from his "past mistake" of letting the size of boundaries dictate his shot-selection in the 4th T20I.
"I have felt in the past that if I think about the size of the boundary and don't hit towards those sides, they become predetermined shots and because of that we make mistakes. I learnt from past mistakes and played my shots here," he added.
Axar Patel decodes Matthew Short's LBW review
Apart from scoring runs, Axar also picked up two wickets in his four overs, conceding 20 runs and won the Player of the Match award in the 4th T20I.
When Dube asked about his scalp, especially the LBW dismissal of Matthew Short, which was the result of an accurate review taken by Axar in consultation with Jitesh Sharma. Axar said that he is not particularly a fan of reviews but took his chance this time.
"I'm never ready to take a review. But when the ball hit (his pads) this time, I think it stayed low. And the kind of action that I have, I bowl a little wide off the crease. So I always feel that the ball will hit outside the wicket or go from an angle," he explained.
"But in this I knew that the ball was hitting and (although) it could have been a little outside the off stump, we could take a chance on umpire's call and when I spoke to Jitu, he said 'Axar it's inside, I mean in the middle'.
"So I said 'yes we can take a chance'," he recollected.
The fifth T20I between India and Australia will take place on November 8 at the iconic Gabba Stadium in Brisbane.
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