Champions trophy
Image Source: IANS
1st ODI: Axar Was Promoted To Keep Left-right Combo Going, Exploit The Situation, Says Rohit
Rohit Sharma: India skipper Rohit Sharma said the idea behind promoting Axar Patel to No.5 in the batting order in the first ODI against England was to maintain the left-hand-right-hand batting combination and to exploit the left-arm spinner's improved batting prowess.
Chasing a modest target of 249 after Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) and debutant Harshit Rana (3-53) helped bundle out England for less than 250, India lost Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal with 19 runs on the board. Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer (59) added 94 runs for the third wicket. But the crucial decision to promote Axar Patel paid rich dividends as the allrounder scored a superb 52 and shared a 108-run partnership with Gill, who top-scored with 87, as India won the match by four wickets with 11 overs to spare.
Rohit said the idea behind promoting Axar was to exploit the situation as England had two spinners who were going to bowl into the left hander.
Advertisement
Related Cricket News on Champions trophy
Cricket Special Today
-
- 03 Mar 2026 10:43
-
- 28 Feb 2026 12:14
