'He impressed me a lot'- Sanjay Bangar on Axar Patel

Axar Patel | Source: Twitter

The former India batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, feels Axar Patel was a huge positive for India in the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Pune as he put the Sri Lankan bowlers under pressure with his knock.

Axar sent the Lankan bowlers on the leather hunt, scoring 65 off 31 deliveries while chasing 207. However, his knock eventually went in vain as the hosts fell 16 runs short of the target.

During an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Match Point', Bangar conceded that he's highly impressed with Axar Patel's hitting abilities. However, on being asked whether Axar Patel's performance was positive for India, Bangar said: 

"He impressed me a lot, especially the way he has worked on his batting. The temperament was seen. He always had batting ability; he had emerged as an all-rounder earlier. He put the pressure on Sri Lanka's main bowler - Wanindu Hasaranga - in tough circumstances,

"He scored 26 runs in that over along with Suryakumar Yadav and got the momentum of the match towards their side. After that, he kept on playing big shots continuously; he didn't stop."  

The Hardik Pandya-led side will lock horns with Sri Lanka in the series decider on Saturday at Rajkot. The visitors are expected to play their unchanged combination, while India might see Arshdeep Singh missing the third T20I. 

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