Carrara: Indian all-rounder Axar Patel says he has learnt from his “past mistake” of letting the size of boundaries dictate his shot-selection, something that was evident from the manner in which he targetted the more distant sides during the fourth T20I against Australia here.
Axar’s 11-ball 21, laced with a four and a six in the last over off Marcus Stoinis, was crucial to India breaching the 160-mark and posting 167, which Australia fell short by 48 runs. The visitors now have an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series after the first game was washed out.
“Obviously I knew it was tough because wickets were falling back to back. The message that I got from the dressing room was to take it to the last over because there weren’t any batsmen after me,” Axar said in a video interview with teammate and fellow all-rounder Shivam Dube, posted by the ‘bcci.tv’.
“So I thought I would take a chance in the last over. The side boundaries were big but I thought if I could hold my shape and watch the ball, I could clear them,” he said.
“I have felt in the past that if I think about the size of the boundary and don’t hit towards those sides, they become predetermined shots and because of that we make
mistakes. I learnt from past mistakes and played my shots here,” he added.