Bridgetown (Barbados): India batter Virat Kohli couldn't control his laughter when Axar Patel himself was shocked after the Indian cricket team's fielding coach T Dilip announced the left-arm spinner as one of the contenders for the fielding medal after India's Super Eight clash against Afghanistan at Kensington Oval stadium here on Thursday.
Rohit Sharma-led side put out another clinical performance in all three departments of the game to emerge victorious against Afghanistan by 47 runs.
Captain Rohit and team management decided to go with three spinners in the match as pacer Mohammed Siraj was replaced with chinaman Kuldeep Yadav in the line-up. This proved to be an exceptional decision as Axar Patel's cameo of 12 runs off six balls helped India to cross the elusive 180-run mark, the highest team total for India in the ongoing competition so far. Apart from his batting, he also bowled three very economical overs, conceding only five runs per over and picking up a wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, the fifth leading run-getter of the tournament.
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The tradition of giving the best fielder medal after every fixture continued from the ODI World Cup 2023 to the T20 World Cup. The fielding coach Dilip praised the situational awareness from the side during the game, making no mistakes in the field. Dilip went on to reveal the nominees for the award, with Arshdeep Singh being the first contender, Ravindra Jadeja, the second contender for the award before moved on to Axar.
