IND vs NZ: Axar Patel reveals how Ravi Ashwin’s advice helped him dismiss Tom Latham in Kanpur Test

Indian spinner Axar Patel has revealed how Ravi Ashwin’s advice helped him get the prized wicket of Tom Latham in New Zealand’s first innings of the Kanpur Test. On the third day’s play, Latham had shown a great amount of patience and inched towards his 12th century in whites for the Black Caps. However, Axar got rid of him, cutting short his stay and denying him a well-deserved ton.

Axar bowled wide outside the off-stump and Latham tried to hit the ball, coming down the track. But the left-hander missed the ball altogether and KS Bharat made an easy stumping. On the dismissal, Patel said that Ashwin had asked him to bowl away from Latham, who went on to score 95 runs with 10 fours. Patel put forth his opinions while speaking to Ashwin and Bharat.

Axar Patel on how he planned Latham’s dismissal

“Jinx (captain Ajinkya Rahane) told me that it would be my last over after which (Ravindra) Jadeja would come on from my end. I was bowling to him (Latham) on stumps but he was not sweeping or stepping out. Our senior spinner, whose name is Ravichandran Ashwin (smiles), was standing at mid-on and constantly telling me to bowl the ball away from the batter.

“Since I had only over left, I decided to try it and told the captain to send point back. Then, I bowled it away from the batter,” Patel said.

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Earlier when Latham was on 66, Ashwin had the chance of getting him out. After the ball hit the batter’s pads, Ashwin was pretty keen on taking a review. However, wicketkeeper Bharat reckoned that the batter hit the ball. Later, replays showed that the ball had smashed the batter on the pads.

For the goof-up, Bharat said, “I was so confident that it hit his (Latham) bat. Later, when we saw that slow motion, it hit his front pad and then back pad. I am so sorry,” he added.

Bharat kept wickets in the game on the third day after Wriddhiman Saha complained off a stiff neck. “I was just doing my morning routines and suddenly the support staff asked me to be ready. I had 12 minutes to get my taping and stuff. It just happened like that,” Bharat said.

Apart from making Latham’s stumping, he also took two sharp catches to dismiss Will Young and Ross Taylor.