Spinner Axar claims 5-60 as India thump visitors by 317 runs; level serie
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel appeals on Day Four of the 2nd Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday. Pic/BCCI
Not since Mohammed Shami in November 2013 had an Indian bowler taken five wickets in an innings on Test debut. Axar Patel ended the seven-year wait on Tuesday afternoon, luring England to their doom in the second Test by spinning a wicked web of guile and deceit.
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The left-arm spinner had been a shoo-in to figure in the first Test, also at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, last week until a knee injury the day before the match rendered him hors de combat. Restored to full fitness for the must-win second game, Axar responded beautifully to fashion a 317-run hammering keeping India on track for a date with New Zealand in the World Test Championship final.
Axar is no stranger to the big league. His first-class debut came as a teenager in November 2012, and he made his first appearance for the country in a One-Day International when still 20. The man from Anand in Gujarat has 38 ODIs and 11 Twenty20 International caps, but his path to Test cricket was stymied by the towering presence of Ravindra Jadeja.
The unfortunate injury to the senior left-arm-spinning all-rounder from Saurashtra on the tour of Australia threw Axar a lifeline, and he grabbed his opportunity gleefully on a helpful surface where his control and natural quickness through the air came in handy. A steady diet of first-class appearances for India ‘A’ had hastened his apprenticeship, and while he isn’t in the Jadeja category, he was a more than adequate replacement while holding his own in an attack manned by the pedigreed R Ashwin.
The Chennai off-spinner, named player of the match for his eight-wicket match haul to go with a sparkling second-innings century, played second fiddle on the designated fourth day, watching Axar work his way through the English line-up.
Beaten in the mind by stumps on Day Three, staggering to 53 for three while chasing 482 for victory, England’s resistance—for want of a better word—lasted just 147 minutes on the penultimate day. Ashwin kicked off the mayhem with his first ball of the day, which he threw wide down leg to defeat the charging Dan Lawrence and set up a stumping for Rishabh Pant. He then also accounted for the defensive-minded Ben Stokes.
No scalp would have given Axar more satisfaction than that of Joe Root, whose stoic 132-minute counter was ended by a ball that exploded off the rough and pinged him on the glove on its way to slip. Axar would have gladly taken that one wicket alone; instead, he finished with five for 60 as India won with loads to spare.
2013
The last time an Indian Test debutant (Shami) took five wickets in an innings
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