In the second match of the series on Sunday, the Indian batting unit looked quite erratic against Bangladesh’s spin attack. Chasing a meagre total of 145 runs, India lost as many as seven wickets for a total of 74 runs, with stalwarts such as KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Cheteshwar Puajra underperforming.
On Day 3, the team management decided to send Axar Patel at No. 4, probably hoping for the left-hander to take on Bangladesh’s spinners, who were on fire. Former Indian cricketers such as Sunil Gavaskar and Ajay Jadeja, however, were outraged by the move.
Ajay Jadeja questioned Pujara about the reasoning behind India’s choice to send Axar Patel ahead of Virat Kohli during the post-match show for the broadcasters. Pujara was quick to respond and stated that using a left-handed batter to combat the spin was a wise decision.
“It was a very good move because, among their three strike bowlers, two were left-arm spinners. Axar is a left-hander, so he was sent to tackle them and to have a batter who can bat sensibly in the initial period against the Kookaburra ball. It was a crucial move for us. That was an important phase of the game where we didn’t want to lose too many wickets in the evening, and he could have batted cautiously. So I was not surprised. When you are chasing a 145-run total, every run is important, and the way he batted, his innings was very valuable for us,” he said.
Watch Cheteshwar Pujara’s video here
Pujara on India sending Axar ahead of Kohli pic.twitter.com/xAFrbNirf3
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When Axar came in to bat at No. 4, Gavaskar and Jadeja were perplexed, implying that such a move would not sit well with Virat Kohli, arguably the best batter in the world. “It didn’t send a good message to Kohli. He is the best batsman in the world. Unless Kohli himself asked for it, then it’s a different matter. We don’t know what happened in the changing room. But it’s hard to understand. Axar has played well, of course,” he said as a commentator on Sony Sports Network.
Gavaskar’s sentiments were echoed by Jadeja, a member of the Hindi commentary team for the series, who said, “He is the world’s best player. 15 overs were left. Saba Karim said it could have been because of the left-right combination, which is an obvious thought, but then I feel – did Rishabh Pant take a sleeping pill? I will also say that it is easy for us to say this from here; we don’t know if someone was not feeling well.”
