Axar Patel, the Indian player who impressed with his all-round performance in the fourth T20 International against Australia, said that he “learned from his past mistakes” and didn’t let the boundary size influence his shot selection.

Axar scored an unbeaten 21 runs off just 11 balls, including one four and one six. His crucial contribution included hitting a four and a six off consecutive balls from Marcus Stoinis in the final over, helping the team reach a total of 167 runs. Axar was equally brilliant with the ball, taking two wickets. India won the match by 48 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 series lead (Note: the text says 2-1, but winning the 4th match gives a 3-1 lead).

Named the ‘Player of the Match’, Axar told BCCI TV, “Obviously, I knew it would be difficult because wickets were falling continuously. The message from the dressing room was that I had to stay at the crease until the last over because there was no recognized batter after me.”

The 31-year-old all-rounder explained, “I thought I would take a risk in the last over. The distance to the side boundary was long, but I thought if I maintained my rhythm and kept my eye on the ball, I could send the ball over the boundary.”

He added, “In the past, I felt that if I thought about the boundary size, I wouldn’t play a shot in that direction. In such a situation, it would become a predetermined shot, and I would make mistakes. I learned lessons from previous mistakes and improved my shots here.”

The fifth and final T20 match of the series will be played in Brisbane on Saturday.