Ajaz Patel Achieves Stellar Test Record With Fifer At Wankhede Vs India

Ajaz Patel picked three wickets on Day 2. [Source: @BLACKCAPS/X]

Another chapter of New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel’s tryst with the Wankhede Stadium got written on the second day of the third Test match of New Zealand tour of India 2024 today. Patel, who had become only the third bowler to pick a 10-wicket haul in a Test innings in Mumbai three years ago, picked his sixth Test five-wicket haul on Saturday.

Patel, whose limited returns in the first two Tests went unnoticed because of how others around him performed, stood tall with the team in trouble.

Ajaz Patel's fifer decimates India

Having forced Indian batters into committing hara-kiri during the fag end of Day 1, Patel picked a total of three crucial wickets to ensure that the home team doesn’t build a formidable first-innings lead. 

In what was arguably his best spell on this tour, the left-arm spinner found the respective outside edges of three right-handed batters namely Sarfaraz Khan (0), Shubman Gill (90) and Ravichandran Ashwin (6).

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In spite of coming at a higher economy rate of 4.75, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Patel’s bowling figures of 21.4-3-103-5 brought the Kiwis back into the match.

The 36-year-old player’s praiseworthy effort put him in an elite club comprising legends such as Sir Ian Botham, Richie Benaud and Courtney Walsh. It is noteworthy that Patel is only behind Botham (22) in the list of most wickets by a visiting bowler at a venue in India in Test cricket.

Most Test wickets at a venue in India

Patel, who bowled for the third time at the Wankhede, has dismissed 19 batters at an average of 17.26, an economy rate of 3.43 and a strike rate of 30.1.

Patel, who still has to bowl in the fourth innings, could also better Botham by picking four wickets in what has it in it to become a jaw-dropping end to a historic series.

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