Axar Patel his maiden fifty in the Test match cricket to bail India out of a tricky situation in the morning session of the second day of the second Test against New Zeland in Mumbai. He walked out to bat when Ajaz Patel was going through his purple patch with the ball and was on a hat-trick having dismissed Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin on consecutive deliveries.
He was very controlled in his approach and did not take any risk whatsoever and stitched a valuable partnership worth more than 50 runs with Mayank Agarwal, who was batting past his hundred.
After his departure, Axar took a liking to William Somerville and hit him for a four and a classy six over extra cover to open up his shoulders. His runs were crucial for India as they were without Ravindra Jadeja and especially after the twin failures of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.
His time will come with the ball, but his fifty has propelled India past the 300-run mark which could be a determining factor in the game as the surface at Wankhede Stadium is offering a lot of turns and bounce from the line of stumps. He has been known for his deadly accuracy and it would be tough to deal with for the Blackcaps batsmen.