"He was a league apart" - R Sridhar lauds Axar Patel's all-round performance in 5th IND vs AUS T20I

R Sridhar has lauded Axar Patel for his excellent all-round performance in the fifth T20I between India and Australia.

Axar scored 31 off 21 deliveries as the Men in Blue set the Aussies a 161-run target in Bengaluru on Sunday. The spin-bowling all-rounder then bowled a parsimonious spell of 1/14 in four overs as the hosts restricted the visitors to 154/8 to register a six-run win.

While reviewing the game on Sports 18, Sridhar was asked to pick the top performer.

"Axar Patel, without a doubt. With the bat as well, on the field, and with the ball. He was a league apart with respect to the other spinners on show and also the other all-rounders on show. He took confidence from the last game, not just with the ball but also with the bat," he replied.

The former India fielding coach praised Axar for making telling contributions with both the bat and ball.

"He played some intelligent shots. He played the field well. He picked the bouncers and dispatched them over the boundary. He gave India a total to fight with. He gave us something to defend on a tacky pitch and when he came back to bowl, he got a crucial wicket and put India on top," he elaborated.

Axar added 46 runs with Shreyas Iyer (53) for the sixth wicket after India were in a spot of bother at 97/5. He then picked up the crucial wicket of Tim David to break his 47-run fourth-wicket partnership with Ben McDermott that was threatening to take the game away from the Men in Blue.

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"As he played more number of balls, he got better and better" - R Sridhar lauds Shreyas Iyer's knock

Shreyas Iyer scored 53 runs off 37 deliveries. [P/C: AP]

R Sridhar was also asked about his thoughts on Shreyas Iyer's knock, to which he replied:

"I think he was a little scratchy to start with. But later on, as he played more number of balls, he got better and better. It was not an easy pitch to bat. It was a little tacky, a bit sticky I would say, the ball was stopping and coming."

Sridhar feels the knock will hold the middle-order batter in good stead in T20I cricket.

"There was a little bit of turn for the spinners as well but he hung in there almost till the end. He was done in by an excellent yorker from Nathan Ellis but otherwise, some of the shots he played, will give him a lot of confidence, especially in this format, where he has still not yet cemented his place in the team," he explained.

Shreyas struck five fours and two sixes during his 53-run effort. Apart from the 46-run partnership with Axar Patel, he also added 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Jitesh Sharma (24 off 16) when India were reduced to 55/4 in the 10th over.