"If There Was Ever A Weakness...": Ricky Ponting Reveals How Axar Patel Improved His Batting

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Tuesday revealed how "little technical changes" made while playing for Delhi Capitals helped Axar Patel develop into an effective batter for India. Ponting is hoping to "get a bit more out of him" when he turns up for Delhi Capitals in this IPL. Axar (264 runs) has impressed during the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia, slamming three half-centuries to emerge as the second highest scorer for India behind Virat Kohli (297 runs) from five innings. "I've known Axar for a long time and he was only a young boy in the squad at Mumbai when I first went there," Ponting told the ICC Review.

"I've known that there's been a certain amount of batting skill there that really, apart from the last couple of years, he hadn't really been showing at IPL level or even at international level.

"There were a few little technique changes that we made with him. We just opened up his hips and his shoulders a little bit. So he was a bit more chest-on towards the right-arm fast bowlers." The 29-year-old bowling all-rounder did not make his IPL debut for MI in 2013. He flourished during his five-year stint at Kings XI Punjab and emerged as one of the best white-ball performers with some good show for the Delhi Capitals over the last four seasons.

Ponting, who is the coach of Delhi Capitals, said Axar used to struggle against the short ball early in his career.

"If there was ever a weakness in his game, it was the short ball that was sort of directed at his body. The reason that he was a bit weak in that area was he was too side-on, and the ball was always sort of in behind his right shoulder," Ponting said.

"We just tried to open him up a little bit, which gave him a little bit more access to