Despite playing remarkably well with the bat in the final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Axar Patel failed to make the most of the start by getting it over the three-figure mark as he got out on 79. Notably, when India looked to be in a bit of a difficult situation, especially with Shreyas Iyer wasn’t expected to bat owing to a back injury, Axar stepped up and built an excellent partnership with Virat Kohli to bail India out of all the troubles.
Even so, Sunil Gavaskar wanted Axar to get past his maiden international ton in the fourth Test. The former India skipper interrupted Axar’s interview with the host broadcaster to share some valuable pieces of advice with the all-rounder and reminded him not to waste the opportunity the next time around.
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Congratulating the all-rounder, Sunil Gavaskar said, “Agli baar century miss mat karyega. Kyunki 100 kay itne mauke aate nahi jaldi, toh jab aata hain toh chodiye mat. (Next time don’t miss out on the century. There are very few times when you reach close to a ton and when you do grab the opportunity).” Meanwhile, Axar was surprised by Gavaskar’s gesture and replied with, ‘Thank you, sir.’
After a poor bowling performance in the first innings of the fourth Test, India needed their batters to step up and deliver. Shubman Gill started well and went on to score a magnificent century but soon after his dismissal, things were looking a bit difficult as Virat Kohli hadn’t been successful in converting his starts in the recent games.
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However, the 34-year-old stepped up and hit his 75th international ton to bring India back into the game. Axar Patel in the meantime supported him well in the middle as their partnership of 162 runs proved to be very important for the hosts as the Indian team under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma took a lead of 91 runs after the first innings. Now, the bowlers need to perform really well on Day 5 as India is eyeing to win and game and qualify for the WTC final.
