Everyone thought Ravindra Jadeja's absence would weaken India but Axar Patel was outstanding: Andrew McDonald

Ravindra Jadeja's absence from the T20 series was expected to weaken India but the hosts found an able replacement in "outstanding" Axar Patel, said Australia coach Andrew McDonald. Left-arm spinner Axar, who was shoed in as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Jadeja, impressed everyone with his bowling, ending as the leading wicket-taker in the three-match series. “Axar, in particular, had an outstanding series. With Jaddu out everyone thought that it might become a bit of a weakness for India, but they've found another one again, which tends to happen,” McDonald said at the post-match press conference after India clinched the series. The Australian bowling attack, comprising the pace duo of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, was taken to the cleaners by the Indian batters.

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India skipper Rohit Sharma has backed pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel to hit form ahead of the T20 World Cup. Both Bhuvneshwar and Harshal, who made a comeback from injury, leaked runs in the series vs Australia, ending with an economy rate of 12 plus. “It's important that we give him

Asked if it's a concern heading to the World Cup, McDonald said: “Across the series the run rate was high, it was entertaining cricket from the get-go. Bat dominated the ball, so there was really no place to hide for bowling units, in particular death. “We worked our way through some plans. We saw some good results with some of the plans that we implemented that might be able to transition to the World Cup.” McDonald added that Australia will have reinforcements in the form of Mitchell Starc when they begin the defense of their World Cup title at home next month.

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