Axar Patel joins Sachin Tendulkar, Hardik Pandya in India's rare list of players to achieve this feat in away ODIs

India registered their first win on the UK tour, beating England by six wickets at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 14. Axar Patel scripted history as he became third India all-rounder to take a four-fer and score a fifty-plus score in an away ODI. Axar claimed four wickets for 62 runs and to bowl out England for 258. Then, he walked out to bat at no.7 and scored an unbeaten 52-ball 57 as India chased down the target with 28 balls to spare. 

Axar joins Tendulkar, Pandya

Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was the first to achieve the feat. Against Australia in Dhaka, he scored 141 runs from 128 balls and then claimed a four-wicket-haul conceding 38 runs in 9.1 overs.

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Nearly two and a half decades later, Hardik Pandya scored a 55-ball 71 and followed it up with four wickets for 24 runs ins even overs against England in Manchester in July 2022.

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Axar in Yuvraj’s league too

Axar joined Pandya in another list which also features legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj has scored 118 runs from 122 balls and then conceded just 28 runs from 10 overs to take four wickets against England in November 2008. In this list also, Axar is the third Indian to achieve the feat against England in the format.

Axar named 'Player of the match'

Axar broke the seventh wicket partnership between Joe Root and Liam Dawson which lasted 111 runs. The left-arm spinner got the wicket of Dawson who scored 68 runs from 83 balls. Then, he mopped up the tail with wickets of Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Josh Tongue.

In the run chase, he joined Washington Sundar in the middle in the 28th over when visitors were 160/4. He hit five fours and a six in his unbeaten 57. Patel and Sundhar shared an unbeaten 102-run partnership as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-ODI series. 

“Obviously the way T20 series went, I think this is the perfect start for us. And very happy the way I performed today,” Axar said in the post-match presentation. 

Axar chasing 1,000 ODI runs

Axar will be chasing a personal milestone in the remainder of the ODI series. He needs 85 more runs to complete 1,000 ODI runs. The second ODI of the series will be played on July 16 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.