‘Felt in the past…’: Axar Patel reflects on Learning from past mistakes and improving

Axar’s 11-ball 21, laced with a four and a six in the last over off Marcus Stoinis, was crucial to India breaching the 160-mark and posting 167, which Australia fell short by 48 runs. The visitors now have 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. 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,” Axar said in a video interview with teammate and fellow all-rounder Shivam Dube, posted by the ‘bcci.tv’.

“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.

Besides the significant runs, the Axar Patel also picked up a couple of wickets in the game to deservedly win the Player of the Match honour. Shivam Dube asked him about his wickets, especially the LBW dismissal of Matthew Short, which was the result of an accurate review taken by Axar in consultation with Jitesh Sharma. The 31-year-old said he is not particularly a fan of reviews but took his chance this time.