Mumbai: New Zealand haven’t put a foot wrong in this Test series against India but for their left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, it has been a tough tour. After the pace attack’s spectacular showing in the series opener at Bengaluru, Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips weaved their spin magic in the Pune Test.
Patel had match hauls of 2/100 and 2/97, hardly the performance expected of a player who was meant to be the lead performer on the tour because of his exploits on the team’s last visit to India.
Three years ago, Patel came as an unknown commodity. But when you pick all 10 wickets in an innings, like he did against India in December, 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium, you immediately enjoy the limelight.
Patel etched his name in Test history as only the third bowler, after England spinner Jim Laker and Anil Kumble, to achieve the feat, with figures of 47.5-12-119-10. India though won the game to take the series 1-0.
Back at the scene where he savoured the greatest moment of his career, Patel will hope he can find his best again. As New Zealand eye a rare series sweep, Patel needs a solid showing to sign off the tour on a high. Born in Mumbai, his connection with the city becomes even more special, and his wife, parents and close relatives will be at the match starting on Friday.
“Certainly emotional. I guess being back in Mumbai is always quite special and it’s a place I call home as well,” said Patel. “Having the opportunity to play out here again is quite special. To be honest, after my 10-wicket haul, I wasn’t sure whether I’d get another opportunity to play out here again throughout my career. So, I’m very grateful that BCCI have scheduled a game here and I get to be back home again for a little while.”
After training at the Wankhede on Wednesday, the 36-year-old spinner predicted helpful conditions for spin. “I guess looking at the wicket and having played here before, you know that that red soil is going to offer you a bit more pace and a bit more bounce. It will definitely turn, it’s just a matter of when and it’s just kind of waiting and seeing how that kind of pans out, whether it turns early or whether it turns a bit later on in the game.
“That until the first ball is bowled, we won’t know. So, it’s just waiting and seeing but at the same time, it’s just being very, very clear on what your plans look like on that particular surface. We’re shaping up well and we’re preparing well so it’s just a matter of getting out there and putting our best foot forward again,” said Patel.
On his last visit, Patel finished the two-Test series as the highest wicket-taker, with 17 scalps. His Wankhede match haul was 14/225, the best figures by a visiting bowler in the country. The challenge for the spinner has been living up to expectations that such a feat brings. The lift in his career he expected after that didn’t come about. In fact, he wasn’t picked for the next four Tests, played at home in seaming conditions.
New Zealand basically use him as a sub-continent specialist. Though he has not made an impact in this series, his overall record in Asia is good – 70 wickets in 15 Tests at 30.57. Last year in the two-Test series in Bangladesh, he was the second-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps. In September, in Sri Lanka, he took eight wickets in the first Test at Galle.
Although Indian batters struggled against spin, it was fellow left-arm Mitchell Santner who ran through the batting in Pune. The Indian batters have handled Patel well. He was an unknown commodity in 2021, while this time the batters were aware of his threat and were better prepared. Sarfaraz Khan took him on in the second innings in Bengaluru with powerful slog sweeps. Taken for 100 runs in 18 overs, his confidence has surely taken a hit.
At Wankhede, he is hoping for a turn in fortunes.
“I guess when you talk about the mood, we have to be pretty happy coming to India and we know how tough a task it is to win against India at home and win a series,” said Patel. “So, to be able to do that has been very, very special and it’s certainly taken a whole team effort to be able to do that. We’ve played some very good cricket over the last couple of weeks, and moving forward into this game, it’s really important that we start again and really forget about what’s gone behind us, kind of put that to bed so that we can focus on the task in front of us.”