Chennai: Debutant slow left-arm bowler Axar Patel said Monday that critics of spinner-friendly tracks need to change their mindset. Patel asserted that the Indian cricket team has never complained about tackling seamer-friendly green tops overseas. Axar Patel hit out at those who have been critical of the pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.
The likes of former England captain Michael Vaughan termed the Chepauk pitch, used for the second Test, as ‘under-prepared’. However, India had two centurions with three players scoring half tons across two innings and 180 plus overs.
“If you are talking about pitch, I don’t think any ball hit the helmet. There is normal spin on offer. We are playing on same track and scoring runs. So I don’t think anyone should have any problems and feel that wicket is like this or that and so on and so forth,” Patel said.
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The 27-year-old Gujarat left-arm spinner’s debut Test is also his 50th international game for India. He took a dig at the English commentators and media for their take on the Chepauk surface.
“Also when we go overseas, we never complained while playing on seaming tracks. We never complain that there is more grass on the wicket. I think people need to change their mindset rather than thinking about the wicket,” Patel asserted.
He explained that on this track, one needs to hit the deck hard in order to make use of the turn on offer. “On this wicket, there is help for spinners so you don’t need to do anything extra,” Patel pointed out.
“When you are putting a bit more effort and body into the ball, then you are getting the ball to spin. When you are hitting the deck hard, then only you are getting the ball to turn. If you are releasing it slowly, there is not much help for the slow bowlers. So hitting the deck with a decent speed is important. That is what is creating difficulty for batsmen,” Patel informed.
So was India’s batting performance a statement to all those who panned the track? “When we play, we don’t think that outside world matters to us and we would like to give a message. We played normal cricket. If it was fourth day, we would have thought about declaring but it was third day and we had enough time. We thought we have to bat long,” Patel spoke about the team’s strategy.
Patel also talked about the respect he has for Ravichandran Ashwin. “Myself and Ash (Ashwin) have played a lot of cricket together. I have learnt a lot over the years about mindset from him. We have different actions and variations. So we generally talk about mindsets and working out various batsmen,” stated Patel.