Axar Patel
All-rounder Axar Patel was spotted sweating it out in the nets ahead of the second Test against England, scheduled to start from Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The left-arm spinner bowled to Indian batsmen, increasing his chances to feature in the Playing XI of the second Test.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the video of Axar’s training session with the caption, “Look, who is back in the nets! @akshar2026 is here and raring to go!"
Axar is likely to replace Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who had an underwhelming stint in the series opener where India were outplayed in their own backyard. Nadeem had four wickets in all but gave away 233 runs in 59 overs across two innings with an economy rate of close to 4 runs per over.
"Axar had a minor knee niggle and has already started batting at the nets. He is expected to start bowling during the next couple of days.
"He was always first choice to play the opening Test but it will depend on skipper Virat Kohli, head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun," a senior BCCI source had told news agency PTI.
Following India's 227-run defeat, skipper Kohli had also admitted that the bowlers were not up to the mark in Chennai, failing to put enough pressure on the touring party.
“I don’t think we put enough pressure on them with the ball in the first half. Collectively as a bowling unit, fast bowlers and Ash, were good in the first innings but we also needed to contain a few more runs and create pressure,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
Led by James Anderson's reverse swing sorcery, England bundled out India on just 192 runs in the second innings to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series. The touring party looked in a dominant position on all five days, which started with skipper Joe Root hitting a record-breaking double ton in the first innings.
With World Test Championship (WTC) on the line, both the teams will be eager to book a place in the summit clash. India will aim to win the contest by margins of 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0 to qualify for the World Test Championship final and take on New Zealand at the Lord's. England, on the other hand, have the chance to deny India the berth and snatch it for themselves with a 3-1 or 4-0 win.
