Picture Credit: Twitter/@BLACKCAPS
New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel became an overnight sensation last year as he picked all ten wickets in a Test match against India at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. In the first innings of the second Test vs India in Mumbai, Patel picked all ten wickets, equaling England's Jim Laker and India's Anil Kumble record to have taken ten wickets in a Test innings in the history of the game.
Patel overtook New Zealand great Sir Richard Hadlee's 9/52 record against Australia and registered his performance as the best bowling by a BlackCap in Test cricket. A year later, Patel decided to auction his shirt he wore during his historic 10-wicket haul against India to raise funds for Starship Children's Hospital. As per Black Caps, the shirt has been signed by every member of the New Zealand squad from the India tour and has been framed with the match scorecard.
New Zealand spinner is eyeing to help the country's national children's hospital, and to do so he is raising funds to express his gratitude for the service his family received. Patel informed that his daughter was born in the hospital, and the funds received from the auction will be given to the hospital as a gesture toward a caring nurse and the kind of service his daughter and wife were provided.
"Obviously, my daughter was born at Starship. When she was initially born, I remember she had a bit of a fever. They took her in for check-ups and made sure she was OK. They gave her a short dose of antibiotics, but when she was getting antibiotics, she was in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)," Patel informed.
Patel informed that drew inspiration from his teammate and senior pro, Tim Southee. They earlier famously raised over $40,000 for the treatment of eight-year-old Hollie Beattie by putting one of his World Test Championship final shirts on TradeMe. "Tim was always the catalyst in terms of the idea in my mind," Patel added. "I just needed a shirt capable of actually generating that attention." The auction is scheduled to finish on Wednesday May 11.