'Bapu badhu Saru che' - Rohit Sharma lauds Axar Patel's match-winning knock vs West Indies in 2nd ODI

India clinched an unprecedented 12th successive bilateral series victory against West Indies in a thrilling finish in the second ODI in Trinidad on Sunday, 24th of July. Axar Patel left the viewers gobsmacked with his scintillating power-hitting in the death overs of the match as India got over the line with two balls to spare. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, appreciated his compatriots’ innings via a post on Twitter.

Axar Patel helped India record the third-highest chase in ODIs in the Caribbean as the Men in Blue scored 100 runs in the final ten overs. The Indian all-rounder entered the arena with India 205/5 in the 39th over and turned the match on its head with his maiden ODI half-century in just 27 deliveries. During his 64-run whirlwind innings, the southpaw sent five maximums out of the ground, the most by an Indian batter at no.7 or lower, breaking MS Dhoni’s 17-year-old record of three sixes.

The all-rounder’s outstanding match-winning knock garnered him the player of the match award and was praised by many cricketers and ex-cricketers on social media. India’s regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the ODI series, was also in awe of the Gujarati-born cricketer’s astounding innings and wrote a message for him in his Twitter post. His post read, “Woah that was some performance from team India last night. Bapu badhu Saru che @akshar2026 @bcci.“

Woah 🤯 that was some performance from team India last night. Bapu badhu Saru che @akshar2026 @bcci

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) July 25, 2022

All-round Axar sink Nicholas Pooran’s West Indies

Earlier in the match, Axar helped India restrict the hosts to 311/6 as he returned with figures of 40/1 in his nine overs, the most economical of the Indian bowlers. And when the team needed his batting expertise during the mammoth chase, the all-rounder justified his selection in the squad with his 35-balls 64 and showed no signs of nerves while batting with the tail in a tense few final overs. 

With six runs required of the last three balls, the 28-year-old smashed Kyle Mayers for a towering six straight over his head to finish off the run chase in nonchalant style as India broke Pakistan’s record of most successive bilateral series wins against a side.