Akshar Patel starred with the bat for India on Day 2 of Delhi Test.
In reply to Australia’s first innings total of 263, the hosts were reeling at 139/7. Amid the pressure situation, Akshar once again rose to the occasion, scoring 74 off 115 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.
The southpaw also forged a 114-run partnership for the eighth wicket with R Ashwin (37) to take the team’s total to 262.
Speaking after the second day’s play, Akshar Patel attributed his growth as a batter over the last 12 months to a change in mindset besides crediting Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting for the transformation.
Notably, Akshar also played a valuable knock of 84 in India’s only innings in the opening Test against Australia in Nagpur last week.
"At Delhi Capitals, I talked a lot with Ricky on how I can get better with my batting. Even in the Indian team, I was talking to the batters. I felt I was not realising my potential with 30s and 40s. I was not able finish the game.
"So, it was a lot about the mindset. Sometimes you can relax as an all-rounder if you have taken wickets, you could get casual. So I thought I could improve on that and convert my 30s and 40s into match-winning scores.
"That is how I think now and that has made a big difference," he said after the close of play on Day 2.
Akshar and Ashwin also earned rich praise from Australian spinner Nathan Lyon who feels the Indian spin duo is good enough to bat in the top 6.
"When I am bowling, we think how the batter is making things difficult for us. I use the same technique while batting. If the bowler is landing all the balls in the same area, the batters keep defending confidently. While batting, we also try to defend confidently and force him to change his tactics. Having a bowler's mindset helps in batting as well," Akshar stated.
Reflecting on his partnership with Ashwin, Akshar said: "There was pressure as we were behind in the game. So, it was important to get as close to the Australian target as possible. When Ashwin and I got set, we thought the wicket was getting easier to bat on and felt we could forge a long partnership. Eventually we ended just one run behind Australia. So felt good about that.”
In their second innings, the visitors batted aggressively to finish the day on 61/1, stretching their overall lead to 62 runs.
Akshar Patel said his team would be comfortable chasing anything in the range of 250.
"The sooner we bowl them out the better. If we can stop them between 220-250, we can defend that while batting on day four. For that, we will have to bowl well because the wicket is getting slower with the game progressing.
"We will have to work really hard to get wickets, it won't be easy for sure. We will have to vary our pace to test the batters.
"Towards the end of play, they (Australia) were aggressive and we noticed that. At stumps, we were thinking about how to do things differently and try to stop them."
On missing out on a deserving hundred, he added: "The ball was new so I thought I could take my chances with Shami and Siraj bhai left. I wanted to take my chances. Last time I got out on 84 while batting (in Nagpur) so wanted to take my chances (to get to hundred)."
(With PTI Inputs)