Veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal may have been warming benches in New York but he is in charge of keeping the environment light in the dressing room. Chahal TV made its comeback after India beat Pakistan by six runs in a thrilling low-scoring encounter. While Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah starred with their performances, Axar’s contributions with bat and ball were underrated. He got the wicket of Usman Khan and bowled the crucial 16th over of the innings not letting Imad Wasim hit boundaries.
In the 16th over, he conceded just two runs. Wasim played three dot balls in a row in an attempt to play a shot square of the wicket and get a boundary. Axar also revealed that he had a conversation with Rohit Sharma on how to avoid conceding a six in that over by taking a gamble with fielding placement.
"So I talked to the captain, Rohit bhai, that I would ball in the cut so give me two points. And keep the back sweeper a little inside the cut. If he hits the four on the cut or the cover, then it is okay. Because that is a very difficult shot. If the execution was good, then the over was also good. And then the difference in the run also increased," he told Chahal in a video posted on Indian Cricket Team’s Instagram account.
Axar had no idea he would bat at no.4
Axar contributed to India’s score with a cameo after the openers departed early in the powerplay overs. He was promoted to bat at no.4. The southpaw scored 20 runs from 18 balls including a four and a six. He shared a crucial partnership of 39 runs with Rishabh Pant.
"There was no chance of planning when I came to know that I was going to go at four. When I went for the batting, it was easy for me. Our captain (Pant, DC captain) was not telling me anything about cricket. He was just joking around. He knew that I would become a little easy. He kept telling me something on every ball. I also talked to him and it became a little easy. It was the same planning and nothing else," said the all-rounder.
India have won two games on the trot. They will take on co-hosts USA at Nassau County international Cricket Stadium, New York on June 12.
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