England made Axar look like Bedi and Underwood rolled in one: Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Joe Root and co. made Axar Patel look like a combination of Derek Underwood and Bishan Singh Bedi.
Axar Patel the Test cricketer has been a revelation for India. The left-arm spinner who made his debut in the second Test in England, returned with 27 wickets – the most by an India in a debut series involving four matches – leaving the England batsmen in a fix.
Reacting to Axar's brilliant performance that was one of the main reasons behind India's victory, former England captain Michael Vaughan said Joe Root and Co made the left-arm spinner look like a combination of Derek Underwood and Bishan Singh Bedi.
"England have made Axar Patel look like Derek Underwood & Bishan Bedi rolled into one !!!!" tweeted Vaughan after India beat England by innings and 25 runs to win the fourth Test and take the series 3-1.
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Underwood and Bedi were two of the best spinners of their time and Vaughan brought their name up after Axar picked up his fourth five-wicket haul in only his third Test as England were bowled out for 135 in their second innings and India won the fourth Test in three days.
The left-arm spinner, who did not let India feel Ravindra Jadeja's absence, gave a tough fight to seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for being the highest wicket-taker of the series. Ashwin, who played one match more than Axar, ended up as the top wicket-taker with 32 wickets.
England captain Root lavished praise on the left-arm spinner saying he was relentless in his lengths. "In this series, Axar in particular, has been very accurate and has asked very good questions. He has been relentless with his length and some balls have skidded, some have spun quite big and we are going to just find a way to manage it well," the skipper said.
Vaughan praised India's performance and said they would be the best team of the era if they can beat England in England in the upcoming series.
"India have been far too good... The last 3 Tests they have absolutely hammered England... If they can win in England they are without doubt the best Test team of this era... but that will take some doing against the swinging ball," he added.
