Staff Reporter
Auckland, December 4, 2021
India-born New Zealand Cricket player Ajaz Patel became the third bowler in the history of Cricket to collect ten wickets in International Cricket.
The Black Caps spinner achieved the feat playing against India at the Second Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
Patel joined England off-spinner Jim Laker (1956 against Australia) and India leg-spinner Anil Kumble (1999 against Pakistan) in picking up all wickets in an innings.
Indian Newslink Special Award
As if by providence, Indian Newslink honoured Patel with a Special Award for his achievements in Cricket at the Seventh Annual Indian Newslink Sports, Community, Arts and Culture Awards held on August 2, 2021.
The event, held at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre, was sponsored, among others, by the New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) and Auckland Indian Association.
Michael Wood, Minister of Transport, Workplace Relations and Safety, presented the Award to Patel along with Paul Patel, NZICA President.
Kumble greets on Tweet
Kumble, who has collected 619 wickets for India in Test Matches welcomed Patel to the club.
“Well bowled! A special effort to achieve it on Day One and Two of a Test Match,” he tweeted.
Patel added six wickets to the four wickets that he took on the first day on Friday to finish with figures of 10 for 119 Runs.
Patel, who started his career as a fast bowler, extracted sharp turn and bounce from the pitch and carried the New Zealand bowling on his shoulders to restrict the hosts’ first innings total to 325 Runs.
After picking up the wickets of Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin in his first over on Saturday, the stocky spinner returned after the lunch interval to take the remaining four to wrap up India’s innings.
The final catch
As Rachin Ravindra pouched a skier from India’s number 11 batter Mohammed Siraj to confirm the fall of the final wicket, Patel went down on one knee with a clenched fist before being hugged by his teammates.
He also received a standing ovation from the Indian team in the dressing room and the sparse crowd at the ground overlooking the Arabian Sea.
While he dominated the proceedings with the ball, it was Mayank Agarwal who scored the bulk of the runs for the hosts on the tricky surface.
Agarwal reached 150 with a cut shot off Patel but was caught behind on the next delivery. All-rounder Axar Patel provided able support with a knock of 52, his maiden Test half-century.
-Story sourced from Radio New Zealand under a Special Agreement
