Ajaz Patel takes four wickets on first day of Mumbai Test, calls it a dream homecoming
There could have been no better homecoming for Ajaz Patel than this. The left-arm spinner, who was born in Mumbai, picked all four Indian wickets that fell on the first day to put his side in a commanding position.
Talking about his return to Mumbai, Ajaz said at the end of the day, “this is what dreams are made of, to be out here and go out there and pick up four wickets on the first day is pretty special,” reports PTI.
The 33-year-old was on a roll right away this morning. The stand-in captain Tom Latham threw the ball to Patel in the match’s 8th over, and the left arm bowler did not disappoint.
He removed a good-looking Shubman Gill for 44 to dent the 80 run opening stand of the Indian team. Ajaz then broke the back of the Indian middle-order by removing Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli for ducks in the same over. India was reduced to 80/3 at the tea break.
The Indian batters made a remarkable comeback in the last session to score 221 for four at the end of the day. All the credit for it goes to Mayank Agarwal, who scored an unbeaten 120.
Ajaz believes that the job is only half done at this point and that New Zealand will have to toil harder to remove the remaining six wickets. He also provided insight on the condition of the pitch and said that as the game progresses there will be a considerable amount of spin on offer.
