When Kane Williamson was standing in the midst of India’s victory against New Zealand in the Group Charan match of the Champions Trophy, Akshar Patel again proved that he is the new player of the Indian team by taking the wicket of this star batsman. New Zealand then had a target of 250 runs and Williamson was playing 81 runs. He wanted to go ahead by Akshar Patel to play a long shot but the ball gave him the rest and the rest of the work was completed by wicketkeeper KL Rahul. This was the last ball of Akshar’s 10 -over quota which turned the match towards India. However, no one got much attention on this because in this match his fellow spinner Varun Chakraborty caught everyone’s attention with five wickets.
At one time it was believed that the letter would not get much opportunities due to equality like Ravindra Jadeja. It is also true that he had to struggle to get out of the shadow of this senior partner. He worked on his batting from 2022 to make a way for himself and when the team management sent him to bat at number five, he fully lived the expectations. Earlier, Akshar had indicated improving his batting by playing an unbeaten 64 -run innings in Barbados against West Indies. Akshar said, “After that match against the West Indies, I started feeling that I can end the match well. When I got that confidence, then I stopped thinking more about that I have to prove something in front of someone about my batting. ”
Akshar gets 5th number since Colombo match
The team management’s decision to replace Akshar at number five in place of veteran Rahul was risky but he had full faith in this all -rounder. Akshar is regularly batting at number five against the second ODI played against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year. He scored 44 runs in the first match itself that he is fully prepared for this challenge. After this, Akshar has scored 52, 41, 8, unbeaten 3, 42 and 27 runs while batting at number five. These figures may not be attractive but important is that he took over this responsibility under difficult circumstances.
This also helped India to prepare a combination of right and left -handed batsman in the middle order. This combination proved to be very important for India due to Rahul’s first wicketkeeper being the wicketkeeper of the first choice. India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is also happy that the gambling that he played at number five proved to be correct. Gambhir said, “We know the ability and ability of the letter and we have given him a constant chance to bat at number five so that he continues to perform well.” He has contributed well ever since he started batting at number five. ”
What did Rohit Sharma say on the letter?
Captain Rohit Sharma said that before the domestic ODI series against England, Akshar was made clear about his role in the team. He said, “Before the ODI series against England, he was given a clear message that no matter what the situation is, he has to bat at number five. He has improved his batting a lot since last year and so we felt that in the middle order we can take advantage of his batting.
