R Ashwin had just removed centurion Zakir Hasan. The southpaw had been the core for Bangladesh in the second inning. He had batted with restraint, control and had taken calculated risks to get to the three-figure mark on his debut. Minutes after the celebration, a momentary lapse of concentration led to his downfall — a loopy delivery that took the inside edge before ballooning up off his pad and ending up in Virat Kohli’s hands at first slip. It was a breakthrough that dented the position of the hosts. Chasing a mammoth 513, they were 208/3 before Zakir lost his wicket.
But joining Mushfiqur Rahim was Shakib Al Hasan — the two OG Test batters of the country. After all, these two scored the first and second double hundreds. And Shakib did not take any time to turn the heat on. He survived an LBW appeal, tonked Axar Patel over long-on, not once but twice all in the same over. The left-arm spinner, known for his control, did what he does best. He and Ashwin kept it tight, giving just six runs in the next four overs with a ball that was over 80 overs old.
Ashwin continued with the new ball, and nothing really changed. From the other end, it worked better for Axar as the lanky left-arm spinner was able to extract extra bounce and turn the odd ball. Umesh Yadav replaced Ashwin, Rishabh Pant dropped Mushfiqur. Then came the perfect delivery from Axar.
As the brand new red cherry left Axar’s hand, it landed on middle and off on the good length, turned sharply to remove the off-stump of Mushfiqur. It was almost as if he was controlling the trajectory with the thread. In fact, it was not even the first time he pulled off such a dismissal on the day. In the second session, Axar had executed the same to uproot the stumps off Yasir Ali.
Such has been the control of his lines and lengths that there is very little margin of error for any batter to capitalise on. What more, he is most dangerous on surfaces where the odd ball spins, for the arm ball is his go to delivery. He had shown it in his debut in Chennai against England in 2021. When it turns square, the arm ball becomes even more lethal as it did in Ahmedabad. Since his debut, no spinner (minimum 10 innings) has a better strike rate than Axar (35.4). And he is well on his way to becoming India's first-choice left-arm spinner.
It is no doubt that India's bowling coach was pleased with the spinner's effort. "What really stood out with Axar was the pace that he bowled with. It's not easy for the batters to step out to him, also the angle he created and the way he released the ball. It's very difficult for the batters to decide whether to leave it or play it, especially where the ball was turning a little bit, you have to play those deliveries," said Paras Mhambrey after the day's play.
Three balls after Mushfiqur's dismissal, Pant made up for his gaffe in the previous over with a stumping — to get rid of Nurul Hasan — that surely took everyone to the past decade. To be precise, it was MS Dhoni-esque. And just like that, another wicket added to Axar's tally. Shakib did go on a counterattacking spree, taking the hosts to 272/6, but if the way Axar and his fellow spinners bowled was anything to go by, the visitors could wrap up proceedings soon enough on the final day.
