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Ajaz Patel has enjoyed a fulminating couple of days in the Mumbai Test as the left-arm spinner has been breaking records on several fronts. After a terrific second day of the match, Ajaz added four more wickets to his tally of 10 wickets from the first innings to take his overall tally to 14 wickets in the match. He now has the best bowling figures by any bowler against India.
Day 2 of the match saw him become just the third bowler after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to pick up 10 wickets in an innings. The veteran bowler took 10 wickets for 119 runs to write his name in the history books. The Mumbai –born spinner made the breakthrough for New Zealand when he sent Mayank Agarwal to the pavilion after he and Pujara had put up a 107 run opening stand. He quickly followed that with three more wickets.
He has now surpassed Ian Botham’s figure for having the best bowling figures by any visiting player. Ian Botham picked-up 13 wickets against India in February 1980. England embarrassed India in that match to win by 10 wickets, a match in which Botham also scored a ton with 115 in the first innings.
When it comes to the best bowling figures by any bowler on Indian soil, the 33-year-old is now ranked fifth. Only Narendra Hirwani (16) and Harbhajan Singh (15) have picked more wickets in a Test match on Indian soil. Ajaz shares the record with Jasubhai Patel and Anil Kumble who both picked up 14 wickets each. New Zealand though have failed to consolidate on Ajaz’s bowling heroics as they are made to chase a total of 540 with still seven sessions of the match remaining.
