Ajaz Patel became the third cricketer to scalp all 10 wickets in an innings as New Zealand bundled out India for 325 on the second day of the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
In 1956, England bowler Jim Laker had taken 10 wickets in an innings against Australia and decades later, India’s Anil Kumble, too, achieved the incredible feat against Pakistan in 1999. At the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, Kumble had made a perfect 10 to bundle out Pakistan and clinch the game.
Exactly 21 years later, Mumbai-born Patel, whose parents immigrated to New Zealand in 1996, had a dream run on his ‘ homecoming’ as he clinched all the Indian wickets, to not only create an incredible personal milestone but also bring his side back into the game.
READ|
The left-armer spun a web around India’s batting order and bowled 47.5 overs, conceding 119 runs.
On the first day of the fixture, on Friday, Patel had scalped four wickets, and shortly after the proceedings began on Saturday, he trapped Wriddhiman Saha leg before to complete his five-wicket haul. In the very next delivery, he cleaned up Ravichandran Ashwin for a duck.
Going into the lunch, India was at 285, with Patel claiming all the six wickets. In his final spell in the post lunch session, Patel clinched the remaining four wickets to enter into the record books.
"It was quite a special occasion for me and my family. Unfortunately for me, they're not here because of Covid," Patel told the host broadcaster during tea break. "It's surreal and to be able to do that in my career is pretty special. The stars have aligned for me to do it in Mumbai. I'm in very illustrious company with [Anil] Kumble sir as well. This is not a great start for us, but we have a few boys in the shed and hope to put on some runs."
Born and raised in Jogeshwari, in the suburbs of Mumbai, Patel’s father worked in refrigeration while his mother was a school teacher. With roots in the Tankaria village in the Bharuch district, Ajaz fell in love with cricket only after shifting base.
A few months later, his uncle Sayeed Patel enrolled him and his cousin at Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club in Auckland. By then, Ajaz had started following the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne on television. At the Avondale College, he was already friends with another Indian, Jeet Ashok Raval, now his team-mate in the national side.
Standing at five foot six inches, Ajaz initially started as a fast bowler. He decided to turn into a left-arm spinner in the mid-twenties, thanks to former New Zealand international, Dipak Patel.
While he worked hard over the years to break into the New Zealand team, the feat was even sweeter for the 33-year-old as it happened at his ‘home’ ground - the Wankhede Stadium, with some members of his extended family watching the proceedings from the stands.
Comments
SHARE