After impressing one and all with his all-round performance in the white-ball series against West Indies, Akshar Patel continued his brilliance in the three-match ODI series versus Zimbabwe.

Akshar, the left-arm spinner and a handy lower-middle-order batter, finished the series with six scalps while his batting effort wasn’t quite needed.

Despite the stunning display, Akshar is aware of the fact that he is not a regular in the team and might have to lose his place once Ravindra Jadeja returns.

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"It is a little tough when you play two matches and suddenly you've to sit out," Akshar said at the post-match press conference after India's 13-run win over Zimbabwe in the third ODI.

"And then again you play two or three matches. It's tough but I back myself and train my mind to think that this is the opportunity for you to do well," he added.

In order to strengthen its bench and manage the workload of its top players, the Indian team management keeps rotating cricketers.

In such a situation, Akshar wants to stay positive and treat every game as an opportunity.

"If I do well here, I'll get to play the next game. I can also play with the (cribbing) mindset that I get dropped after getting a couple of opportunities but I take it in a positive way that I'm getting an opportunity to perform for India. If I do well, I'll improve myself. So it's on you how you take it."

India completed a 3-0 whitewash over Zimbabwe in the ODI series, with a thrilling 13-run victory in the third and final game at Harare Sports Club on Monday (August 22).

Akshar returned with impressive figures of 2 for 30 in his 10 overs in the third ODI.

"I thought this used pitch was a little bit dry and had something for the spinners. I bowled from the other end and tried to bowl the (on) stump lines. I was just waiting for the batter to commit some mistake and fortunately I got a maiden.

Shubman Gill starred in India’s victory in the third ODI, slamming 130 off 97 balls – his maiden ODI century. The right-handed opener was also awarded Player-of-the-Series for his 245 runs in three ODIs.

"The way he's batting, the way he's converting singles and doubles, the way he's not playing a lot of dot balls, that to me is the biggest positive," Akshar said.

"When he's batting, there are always singles and twos coming and he's able to put the bad balls for boundaries. He players spinners well, rotates the strike and even plays the sweep and reverse sweep well."

Akshar felt the Indian bowlers executed their plans in the three-match series.

"The bowlers were executing their plans. It was good to see the way Avesh (Khan) was bowling the yorkers and slower ones. The way Shardul (Thakur) was mixing up his slower ones and wide yorkers.

"Deepak (Chahar) got three wickets in his comeback match. The way we were executing the plans was a big positive," he concluded.

(With PTI inputs)