New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was elated to be able to deliver at his birthplace after grabbing all four wickets on Day 1 in the ongoing second Test against India at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The Mumbai-born 33-year-old spinner, who moved to New Zealand when he was eight years old, is playing in India for the first time but has emerged as a key player for New Zealand in the ongoing Test series. In the first Test in Kanpur, Patel scalped three wickets and played an important role in a thrilling draw against India in Kanpur.
On Friday, December 3, at Wankhede Stadium, Patel finished the opening day of the ongoing second and final Test with the impressive figures of 4/73 in 29 overs, dismissing Shubman Gill (44), Cheteshwar Pujara (0), Virat Kohli (0), and Shreyas Iyer (18).
Patel said during a virtual media interaction after the end of day one’s play: “This is what the dreams are made of, to be out here and go out there and pick up four wickets on the first day is pretty special. I'm really, really lucky to be sitting here with four wickets and I'm pretty happy to be in my hometown. At the Wankhede, it was pretty special for me.”
He added, “The job is only half done. We got to make sure we turn up tomorrow and fight hard for the remaining six wickets. It's quite evenly poised at the moment. It's a big day tomorrow.”
The spinner admitted that there was assistance from the pitch but it's about bowling in the good areas consistently to get success. He added, “Yes definitely, there's assistance there for the spinners and we have got a bit more bounce than Kanpur. As a spinner, you want to bowl hard and put it in the right areas for a long period of time. It's about keeping the game plan simple and using the wicket as much as possible. For me, it was really important that even though it was turning, I still had to make sure my line, angle, and the ball position was correct.”
Patel signed off by saying, “From different angles, you got different levels of turn, some turned sharply and skidded on. I was looking to play around with that with the wicket being so responsive. It really challenged both sides of the edge. The reality of test cricket is if you put the ball in good areas for a long period of time, you will see rewards back. It was my day today.”
(With PTI Inputs)
