IND vs NZ 3rd Test: Latham believes 10-fer at Wankhede will give Ajaz Patel confidence

The last time New Zealand played a Test match at the historic venue, Ajaz Patel created history by claiming a 10-fer in an innings and the visiting team will bank on the spinner, who has his roots in Mumbai.

New Zealand’s Tom Latham interacts during a press conference ahead of the third Test match between India and New Zealand. | Photo Credit: PTI

When New Zealand walks out at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday for the final Test, it will be hoping to whitewash India. Having already clinched the series - it’s first-ever in this part of the world - the visiting team enjoys an upper hand against the home team, which has had a string of shoddy performances in the last couple of weeks.

However, New Zealand captain Tom Latham wants to stay in the present and keep all bases covered on a Wankhede pitch, which could aid the spinners.

“It’s another exciting opportunity presented to ourselves this week. We have obviously done a lot of good stuff over the last couple of weeks, but I guess for us, in every Test match, you go with the focus of trying to win key moments, not necessarily focusing on the result,” Latham said.

“That’s the byproduct of putting things together, back-to-back good sessions, different pitch, different conditions,” the captain added, admitting that it’s a lot hotter in Mumbai as compared to Pune.

The last time New Zealand played a Test match at the historic venue, back in 2021, Ajaz Patel created history by claiming a 10-fer in an innings, even though the visiting team lost the game and the series. This time, too, the visiting team will bank on Ajaz, who has his roots in Mumbai.

“If you look back a few years ago, the surface out here obviously suited Ajaz pretty well in terms of what he was able to achieve. So, when you’ve had success at a ground, coming back to a venue that’s familiar and you’ve done well certainly gives you confidence,” Latham said.

So far in the Test series, Ajaz could claim just four wickets in two outings. In the last game against Pune, he bagged a couple in the second essay, even as Mitchell Santner registered a match tally of 13 wickets.

“Ajaz did a great job in terms of how he bowled last week, just in terms of being able to tie an end up at different stages of the game. Obviously, Mitch got the rewards but that’s just the beauty of a team sport; not every day a certain person is going to be successful and that’s certainly what we talk about as this group…” the captain added.

Matt Henry, the seasoned fast bowler, missed out on the last Test in Pune and his availability in Mumbai will depend on the outcome of a fitness test. “We’ve got a fitness test here with Matt, so we’ll know a little bit more after training today, how he gets through today…” Latham said.