“Welcome to the club”: Anil Kumble lauds Ajaz Patel on becoming the third bowler to pick 10 wickets in a Test innings

Anil Kumble lauds Ajaz Patel: The former Indian captain has welcomed the spinner from New Zealand into an elite club.

Playing only his 11th Test match, New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel has entered the record books by becoming only the third bowler to pick all the 10 wickets in a Test innings.

Playing his first international match at his birthplace in Mumbai on his maiden international tour of India, the 33-year old bowler has joined the likes of former England spinner Jim Laker and former India captain Anil Kumble in this elite club.

Patel, who had picked four wickets including dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Virat Kohli (0) on Day 1, picked his first wicket in the form of India wicket-keeper batter Wriddhiman Saha (27) today. On the following delivery, Patel bowled Ravichandran Ashwin (0) as he became the third Indian batter to get out without scoring.

With opening batter Mayank Agarwal (150) and all-rounder Axar Patel (52) putting a 67-run partnership for the seventh wicket, New Zealand were in urgent need of wickets to not let the Indian pair put on display a significant advantage.

Starting with dismissing Agarwal, Ajaz Patel made it a point to also send back the likes of Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav (12) and Mohammed Siraj (4) to achieve a colossal milestone.

While Ajaz Patel (47.5-12-119-10) conceded more runs than both Laker (53) and Kumble (74), he has bowled less overs than Laker (51.2) but more than Kumble (26.3) to pick all the Indian wickets today. Another facet which has worked in Ajaz Patel’s favour is that he has picked 10 wickets in an innings on the first two days of a Test match unlike Laker and Kumble.

Anil Kumble lauds Ajaz Patel on becoming the third bowler to pick 10 wickets in a Test innings

Welcome to the club #AjazPatel #Perfect10 Well bowled! A special effort to achieve it on Day1 & 2 of a test match. #INDvzNZ

— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) December 4, 2021

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Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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