Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has recently heaped massive praise on all-rounder Axar Patel. Dravid has revealed that the sight of Axar going out to bat made him and his assistant- batting coach Vikram Rathore nostalgic.
“When I saw Axar walk in at No.6, I remember looking at Vikram and thinking, ‘Jeez, VVS Laxman used to walk out at that position’. With due respect to Axar (laughs), he is a lovely player,” said Dravid during a recent interaction.
The former great explained that despite injuries to some key players in the Test series against England, they didn’t opt for the safer option of packing his team with batsmen.
“That’s the bottomline of what me and Rohit have always spoken about. That’s what wins you Tests…being able to take 20 wickets as quickly as possible. It was the braver option and I am glad we went with that. That’s what paid off,” said Dravid.
The legendry cricketer also opened up about the complexity of picking a playing XI that is full of highly talented players.
“This in context to Kuldeep Yadav’s long wait to get a Test. It’s been tough on Kuldeep. He’s bowling at a time when there are legends of the game (Ashwin and Jadeja) who are playing as spinners. So it’s not been easy for Kuldeep. He hasn’t played a lot of red-ball cricket since making his debut here in 2017. Given the context, for him to come into this series and perform the way he has, it’s been absolutely superb,” said Dravid.