IND vs NZ: Anil Kumble welcomes Ajaz Patel to Perfect 10 club; hails the special effort

Legendary Indian wrist-spinner Anil Kumble took to Twitter on Saturday during the second Test match between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and welcomed Kiwi left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel to the 10-wickets in an innings club. Patel displayed a phenomenal display of left-arm spin during the first innings of the Wankhede Test and successfully dismissed all ten Indian batters. After starting the day with four wickets to his name, Ajaz dismissed six more batters in the next 40 overs of play and became the first bowler after Anil Kumble to pick all 10 wickets in one inning of a Test match.

Following Ajaz Patel’s incredible feat on Day 2, Kumble welcomed him to the club and praised him for his special effort to achieve the milestone on the first and second day of a Test match. Meanwhile, the official broadcaster of India vs New Zealand series in India, Star Sports took to their Twitter handle and posted a special video message by Anil Kumble. Expressing his views about Ajaz, Kumble said, “Ajaz, congratulations and welcome to the club, fantastic effort to get all 10. Very special indeed to achieve this one day 1 and day 2 of a test match. I know from now on the expectations will only go up, every time you go out there, people will expect you to get 10-for. But enjoy the day, enjoy the occasion, and welcome to the club. Congratulations once again, it was superb to watch your slow left-arm orthodox. Fantastic achievement mate and congratulations”.

Ajaz Patel among legends like Anil Kumble and Jim Laker

The 10-wickets in one innings club has legends like Jim Laker and Anil Kumble, as Laker dismissed 10 wickets playing for England against Australia during a Test match in 1956, followed by Anil Kumble’s effort to dismiss 10 Pakistan batters in an innings in 1999. Ajaz Patel scripted history by also becoming the best spinner by a visiting team in India. However, the celebrations of Patel's 10 wicket haul was short-lived by the New Zealand team, as their batting lineup collapsed at a mere total of 62 runs batting in the second innings of the Wankhede Test.

Quick turnaround of things for Kiwis after Ajaz Patel's 10-wicket haul

Batting in the second innings, Kiwi skipper Tom Latham scored 10 runs before getting dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. All other New Zealand batters returned back to the pavilion on individual scores of less than 10 runs, while Kyle Jamieson top-scored for the team with an individual score of 17 runs off 36 balls. The Kiwi batting line-up folded with 62 runs on the scoreboard, as Ravichandran Ashwin picked the maximum of four wickets for India in the second innings. Mohammed Siraj returned with three dismissals while Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav dismissed two and one batters each.

(Image: PTI/AP)