Australia national cricket team’s World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch was impressed by the performance of India national cricket team all-rounder Axar Patel in the fourth T20I.
Aaron Finch also urged India fast bowling all-rounder Shivam Dubey to improve his game a bit to avoid the tag of a one-dimensional player given to him.
He’s a guy who hits the ball so cleanly – Aaron Finch
Axar Patel put in an amazing performance in the fourth T20I of the five-match series against the Australia National Cricket Team at the Gold Coast Stadium (Carrara), Gold Coast.
After India fell a few wickets early, the team management sent him to bat at number 8 and the all-rounder responded by playing a quick innings.
He scored 21* off just 11 balls and his innings included a four and a six. On the strength of his heroics, India managed to score 167/8, which proved to be a winning total.
Even with the ball, Axar Patel looked sensational and in his 4 overs he conceded just 20 runs, dismissing Matt Short and Josh Inglis.
He was named player of the match for his all-round performance and was highly praised by Aaron Finch, speaking after the game.
“He is someone who hits the ball so cleanly and he gave India a real injection at the end of the innings,” Finch told GeoHotstar.
Then when he gets the ball in his hands, sometimes he becomes a magician – Aaron Finch
Aaron Finch said that Axar Patel is a magician with the ball in his hand and when he gets some help from the surface, he can deceive any opponent. He said:
“At one point it looked like they would only get around 152-153. But then some big blows in the last over from Marcus Stoinis… proved that he is the package.
“Then when he gets the ball in his hands, he becomes a magician at times. Especially on surfaces like this, which can sometimes hold a bit but can also slip. So he uses all his tricks, all his skills, if you combine that with his fielding, he is a serious package in international cricket. It was an amazing performance today, he was a deserving player of the match.”
I’d just love to see him change his mindset a bit with the bat in his hand – Aaron Finch
Although Aaron Finch is completely surprised by Axar Patel, that is not the case with Shivam Dubey. Finch feels that Shivam Dubey has built his reputation as a spin-basher, which he needs to change and adopt the same aggressive approach against fast bowlers.
“I would love to see him change his mentality a bit with the bat in his hand. I think sometimes he is expected to step out and dominate the spin. I would also love to see him bowl fast sometimes. You don’t want to be known as just a one-dimensional player with the bat in his hand. So, for that approach, just take it a little more,” explained Finch.
“He’s got all the power. He can hit the ball so far, and we’ve seen him start to do that on shorter grounds playing in Chennai in the IPL. He picks up the short ball early. But I’d love to see him do that here too, and say, ‘You know what, you over pitch, I’m going to tell you that I’m going to have the confidence to take over your city even with the bat in my hand.’
Also read: “You don’t connect with today’s T20 cricket”: Shivam Dubey’s blunt comment on Nathan Ellis, Shubman Gill’s slow 46-run innings
