India left-arm spinner Axar Patel was happy with converting his starts into decent scores after playing two crucial knocks with the bat against New Zealand in the second Test in Mumbai.

Axar brought up his maiden Test fifty in the first innings, scoring 52 in India’s total of 325 and followed it up with a quickfire 26-ball 41 not out in the second innings which took the hosts to 276 for 7 before Virat Kohli decided to declare and set New Zealand a target of 540 to win at the Wankhede Stadium.

India needed some quick runs to pile on the misery on New Zealand and Axar took the attack to the cleaners during his 32-minute stay at the crease, smashing three fours and four sixes.

The 27-year-old, who made his Test debut against England in March this year, nearly 30 with the bat this year in red-ball cricket.

IND vs NZ, 2nd TEST: Highlights | Report

“My endeavour is to keep improving and look at areas where I need to get better. All the hardwork that I have put in all these years have finally yielded results this year,” Axar said after the third day’s play.

“The batting coach (Vicky Rathour) and team management has faith in my batting abilities, and they have always told me that ‘you can do it’. Earlier, when I got chances, I couldn’t convert my starts but this time when I got chances, I was able to convert.

“My batting is benefitting my team and if you see that myself, Jaddu and Ash bhai play as all-rounders, it releases a bit of pressure on our batters, so its a good sign. As long as I keep contributing it’s good for both me and my team,” he added.

“It has been a dream year for me.” #TeamIndia all-rounder @akshar2026 on the terrific performances he put up this year. #INDvNZ @Paytm pic.twitter.com/s2xRiyNO4P

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 5, 2021

Axar, who is enjoying a dream run in his debut Test year, bagged a couple of wickets in New Zealand’s first innings and added another to his kitty on Day 3 as India reduced the tourists to 140 for 5 with two more days to go.

Axar has largely remained under the shadow of another orthodox left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s for years before he made the year 2021 his own with 36 wickets with his fifth Test ongoing.

“Actually, this has been my dream year you can say. The way I bowled in England series and now how the New Zealand series panned out, in between there was IPL so I can say that this has really been a good year for me personally,” Axar said.