IND v SL 2023: “Our spin all-rounders stock pretty good”- Rahul Dravid; praises Akshar Patel for his performances

Akshar Patel took 2 wickets and made 65 in 31 balls in second T20I.

India head coach Rahul Dravid talked about the team’s spin bowling all-rounders and said that he was happy with the way the department was shaping up. Dravid also indicated that Ravindra Jadeja could be in the mix very soon, which will put India in happy space vis-a-vis the spin all-rounder’s department.

“I think in our spin bowling all-rounder’s slot our stocks are pretty good at the moment. Shahbaz (Ahmed) was also part of the squad and considering that Washington (Sundar) is there and then Jadeja as well so we are happy with that,” Dravid said at the post-match press conference after the second T20I against Sri Lanka.

Akshar Patel was the star for India as he not only picked two wickets with the ball, but his 65-run knock in 31 balls took the Indian team very close to victory. Rahul Dravid was very praiseful of Akshar for having taken full advantage of the opportunities he got thus far.

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He said: “I think in T20 cricket, whenever he has got the opportunity, he’s done really well so, that’s really a good sign for us, people like him, people like Washi not getting a game, he’s batting really well and obviously Jadeja coming back (soon) as well gives us nice little (options) in that spin-bowling all-rounder area.”

Akshar had hit 6 sixes and 3 fours in his knock and Dravid praised him for his batting as well and said: “He is certainly doing a really good job and his batting is coming on (in) 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. Honestly, we had identified him more than a year (ago).

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It’s (batting) an area of his game that we have identified, we know that it’s important for us to have that and whatever opportunities Axar has got, especially with Jadeja missing quite a lot of cricket, he hasn’t let us down in Test cricket, ODIs, whether it’s been here.”

In the fast-bowling all-rounder’s department, with Shivam Mavi proving to be an ideal foil for skipper Hardik Pandya, Dravid said, it had “brought a smile” on his face. Mavi slammed a quick 26 runs in the end, giving Sri Lanka some tension in last few overs.

“In the fast-bowling all-rounder area we rely heavily on Hardik and we are looking around for other people to step up and may be do the job for us. And, it was nice to see Mavi bat today (Thursday) so that’s like brings a smile on your face. I mean you can see one of you fast bowlers being able to bat like that,” Dravid said.

(PTI inputs)