India provided a strong response to Australia’s 480 runs on Day 4 of the final Test of the Border-Gavskar Trophy after Australia scored 571 runs in the first innings. India gained a critical 91 runs with the help of Virat Kohli’s brilliant 186 and Axar Patel’s tenacious 79-run effort.
Previously, with India’s score at 393/5 and after the dismissals of Ravindra Jadeja and Srikar Bharat, Axar Patel stepped up to the plate. The combination of Kohli-Patel had a duty to assist the team in surpassing Australia’s first-innings score with the half-team at the pavilion. Together, they built a 162-run partnership by performing their jobs well.
The left-hander displayed aggressiveness with his bat and nearly reached double digit runs for the third time. The 29-year-old squandered his opportunity, though, as Mitchell Starc of Australia knocked him out for 79. The inning represents the third fifty of the competition. Axar Patel was questioned about the chances he passed up to turn the fifties into tonnes during a news conference after stumps on Day four of the final.
The spin all-arounder responded with a clever retort. Patel humorously remarked, “You have added salt to the wounds. “I know the chances I have missed don’t come often. Bade run karne the. Positive is that I batted the way I wanted to and we had a good partnership when the team needed it. I am thinking about what you said, but not thinking too much about it right now. I feel it more when I get back to the room,” the 29-year old continued.
Patel’s batting performance was essential to India’s most recent two triumphs. He helped India take a commanding lead in the series with scores of 84 and 72 in the first and second Tests, respectively. Axar also expressed surprise that the first innings of the fourth Test had come to an end after almost four full days of play.
“After the first three matches, everyone said the game ended in three days. Now that the match is going to the fifth day, and you are saying it’s a surprise. It’s not in our hands. We thought we will get some purchase from the wicket but we didn’t. We have to play according to the wicket. We were a little surprised that only the first innings ended in the first four days. We can’t do much and can hope that we come tomorrow and win,” Patel concluded.