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Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel (File Photo: Internet)
In the high-octane and nail-biting last-over thriller against the arch-rivals, Pakistan, the duo of Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant played a crucial role in building India’s innings while batting first. Notably, the men in blue were in a spot of bother after they lost two big wickets early in skipper Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli.
However, the crucial 39-run stand for the third wicket between Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel played a pivotal role for India to get going in the low-scoring thriller against Babar Azam’s men. On the back of this partnership, Rohit Sharma’s men somehow managed to post a total of 119 runs in 19 overs, which they defended successfully and won the match by a narrow margin of 6 runs.
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"It was easy for me because our captain was there" - Axar Patel about Rishabh Pant
Meanwhile, the star India all-rounder Axar Patel came up with a big statement while speaking about Pant’s role in handling him [Axar] when the latter was asked to come at number 4 to bat out of his regular batting order. Axar also expressed due gratitude for the funny nature of Pant which relaxed the former. Interestingly, Pant is also the captain of Axar Patel in the Delhi Capitals franchise in the Indian Premier League.
“There was no chance to plan when I got to know I was going at number four! It was easy for me because our captain Sahab (Rishabh) wasn't saying anything about cricket and was just having a bit of fun to make me feel easy while telling a few things [about the game] here and thereafter every ball. So while talking I also felt a bit easy that everything was going alright,” said Axar Patel in a video on BCCI's official social media channels.
“There was nothing much on my mind, I was just planning to keep it simple with a positive mindset because India-Pakistan is always a high-pressure game," the keeper-batter said. "Then, when Bapu came in - I think he has practised batting at No. 3,4 all IPL (laughs) - when your mate is with you, you get comfortable. We were speaking to each other, being comfortable, and not thinking much about the situation,” he added later.