Former India player Parthiv Patel applauded Axar Patel for his heroics in the second ODI against West Indies yesterday (July 24). He slammed a match-winning 64 off 35 deliveries to help India chase down 312 in the final over at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain as well. India faced trouble during their chase, losing their top-order with 79 runs on the board. A 99-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson steadied the ship but India were still far from the target as well.

Coming into bat with still over 100 runs left to chase, Axar Patel took the charge. In the process, he also hit his maiden ODI fifty and earned the Player of the Match award also.

READ HERE: Gary Kirsten all set to work with Hardik Pandya

Claiming it is the best he has seen Parthiv Patel bat, Parthiv Patel said on Cricbuzz: “We all have seen how good Samson is, I thought he was batting really well. When Axar came out to bat, the game was going towards the West Indies. I have seen him very very closely. To me, it was probably the best I have ever seen him bat.”

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer continued to do well in the ODI format with his third consecutive fifty. He also recently become the second-fastest Indian to scale the 1000-run mark in ODIs. On the other hand, Sanju Samson registered his maiden ODI fifty in only his third appearance. He came close to scoring a half-century on his debut in Sri Lanka last year but fell short by four runs as well. However, Team India, have claimed a 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series, will take on West Indies in the final ODI at the same venue on July 27 (Wednesday) as well.

READ HERE: India will struggle if Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma don’t score, says Mohammad Hafeez

“Samson and Iyer’s partnership changed the game, India were beginning to lose the plot, but they played with a lot of responsibility and maturity. It is the reason why they are leading in the IPL as well. The run-out miss in the 46th over was also crucial,” Parthiv Patel concluded.