Former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain lauded Indian all-rounder Akshar Patel for his brilliance with the ball in the ongoing day-night Test between India and England in Ahmedabad.
The left-arm spinner returned with a devastating six-wicket haul to help Team India bundle England out for 112 in the first innings in just 48.4 overs after Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Day 1 of the ongoing third Test on Wednesday (February 24).
The spin combination of left-armer Akshar (21.4-6-38-6) and off-spinner R Ashwin (16-6-26-3) demoralized England’s batting line-up on the turning pitch at the newly-built stadium in Ahmedabad, as the two picked 8 wickets together to bowl the tourists for a paltry total on Day 1.
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Praising Patel for his brilliant and accurate bowling in the ongoing pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad, Nasser urged the England spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess to learn from the 27-year-old spinner on how to ball accurately in the five-day format of the game.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain wrote: “He (Akshar Patel) is incredibly accurate, which is something England's spinners can learn from. But he also bowls at a good pace, and he operates from stump to stump, so bowling the batsman and lbw are always in the equation.”
The former England captain also pointed out the way the spinner was bowling with his line and length, it was challenging for the tourists to tackle Patel in the challenging Motera wicket.
Hussain signed off by saying, “The weird thing is, he's probably harder to face on a pitch like this, where some turn and some don't than he is on a pitch like the one England faced in the second Test in Chennai, where almost every ball turned big.”
