India retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy in style after defeating Australia by 2-1 in the four-match Test series.
Axar Patel has shown brilliant improvement as an all-rounder across formats over the past couple years. He played a key role during the recently concluded Test series against Australia and got very close to claiming his maiden Test ton. The 29-year-old impressed his Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting as the former Aussie international discussed how Patel’s improvement as a potent batter was aided by “little technique changes” that were made while he represented the franchise.
“I’ve known Axar for a long time and he was only a young boy in the squad at Mumbai when I first went there. I’ve known that there’s been a certain amount of batting skill there that really, apart from the last couple of years, he hadn’t really been showing at the IPL level or even at the international level,” Ponting told the ICC Review.
“There were a few little technique changes that we made with him. We just tried to open him up a little bit, which gave him a little bit more access to the ball. He’s always been a beautiful offside player. You know, his cover driving and cutting is as good as anyone’s. And if anything, he was just a little bit too blocked off to be able to score well on the leg side.
Axar is good enough to bat No.6 probably in an IPL team: Ponting
“I want to get a bit more out of him at the Delhi Capitals this year, that’s for sure. A few times last year we sort of batted him up a little bit higher. I think he’s good enough to bat No. 6 probably in an IPL team,” Ponting added.
