IND vs SL: “We Always Knew His Quality With The Ball, And It Was Just About Developing His Batting” – Rahul Dravid On Axar Patel

India National Cricket Team head coach Rahul Dravid has showered praise on the spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel for making massive improvement in his batting in recent times.

The 28-year-old all-rounder played sensational knocks in the first two T20Is of the ongoing three-match series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. In the first T20I, he smashed quickfire 31* runs and in the second T20I, he slammed outstanding 65 runs.

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At a press conference, Dravid said that everyone knew about Axar’s bowling talent and it was just about developing him as a batter. He also mentioned that the all-rounder is working very hard on his batting.

“I think his [Axar’s] batting is coming up leaps and bounds. We always knew his quality with the ball, and it was just about developing his batting. He is working really hard on it. He has been with the team for more than a year now and it’s an area of his game that we have identified. We know that it’s important for us to have that,” Dravid said at a post-match press conference on Thursday.

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He hasn’t let us down, whether it’s Test cricket, one-day cricket, or here – Rahul Dravid on Axar Patel

India’s head coach further said that Axar Patel has stepped up and performed brilliantly across formats for the side in the absence of premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

“In whatever opportunities Axar has got, especially with injuries forcing [Ravindra] Jadeja out of a lot of cricket recently, he hasn’t let us down, whether it’s Test cricket, one-day cricket, or here. That’s a really good sign for us, to have people like him, to have people like Washy [Washington Sundar], who unfortunately is not getting a game. He is playing really well, he is batting really well as well. And then obviously, hopefully. Jadeja coming back gives us a nice little spin-bowling all-rounder area,” the head coach said.

Sri Lanka National Cricket Team defeated India National Cricket Team by 16 runs in the thrilling second T20I match to level the series 1-1. The third T20I will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday, January 7.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Rahul Dravid Points At The End Of The Journey For Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma In T20Is

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