Axar Patel Shines with Stunning All-Round Performance on Day 1 of Duleep Trophy 2024
Axar Patel demonstrated his extraordinary all-round ability on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy 2024, with a magnificent counterattacking 86 and two key wickets in quick succession.
His participation was important in keeping India D in contention after a rocky start in Anantapur.
Key Performances and Match Scorecard
India C 91 for 4 (Porel 32*, Rana 2-13, Axar 2-16) trail India D 164 all out (Axar 86, Vyshak 3-19, Kamboj 2-47) by 73 runs.
Match Analysis
Axar Patel strengthened his credentials as one of the country’s most important all-round players on the first day of the Duleep Trophy, striking a magnificent half-century to bring India D out of deep trouble in Anantapur. He then came back to pick up two wickets in two overs as well to guarantee a game that could have slipped away from his team now remains in the balance.
Anantapur more than fulfilled its claim to be a fast-bowler’s paradise. The game began with a wicket falling in the first over of play. India C chose to bowl first and quickly dispatched the opposition top order, leaving them at 34 for 5. With Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal finishing with scores of 9 and 0, it was challenging even for players on the periphery of the Indian Test team. A significant portion of this harm was caused by fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak of Karnataka, whose threat persisted all day. In the end, he had 12-3-19-3 statistics.
Axar entered this mess at No. 7, but with only 11 overs completed, he had to face a fresh ball. Though he hasn’t usually stepped into a scenario as difficult as this one when playing international cricket, he has produced some noteworthy contributions for India from lower down the order in Test cricket. With six fours and six sixes in just 118 balls, Axar scored 86 runs in a fierce reply. He led India D’s lower order, partnering with Arshdeep Singh (13), for 84 runs at the ninth wicket. Despite his excellent efforts, he was only able to lead his side to 164 points.
On a day when 14 wickets fell, B Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad became the seventh and eighth players to score in single figures for India C. In his opening over, Harshit Rana removed both of them and finished with figures of 7-5-13-2. When Axar was came on to bowl, he built on those early wickets by hitting two in two overs.
Rajat Patidar, who is renowned for his strokeplay against spin and was utilizing it to assist his side recover from those early blows, was among those he sent back. India C behind by 73 runs at stumps, having scored 91 for 4.
