Picture Credit: BCCI
What a day it has been for Ajaz Patel. The slow left-arm orthodox bowler scalped all the 10 wickets in the first innings of the second Test match against India at Mumbai, becoming just the third bowler after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to complete a perfect 10 in an innings of Test match cricket.
His performance has attracted praise and appreciation from all corners of the world and even the opposition dugout could not help but shower praise on the Kiwi spinner's performance. And now in a video shared by the Board of the Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can be seen standing up and applauding the efforts of Ajaz.
"Incredible achievement as Ajaz Patel picks up all 10 wickets in the 1st innings of the 2nd Test. He becomes the third bowler in the history of Test cricket to achieve this feat. #INDvNZ @Paytm," the post was captioned.
Check out the video here:
Although Ajaz is the third bowler to achieve this feat, he is the only bowler to have done so away from home. Kumble's achievement had happened in India while Laker's too came in the United Kingdom but the Kiwi bowler's performance came on a track away from home in conditions he had not played before.
Moreover, Ajaz also is the first bowler to have picked perfect 10 in the 21st century. Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mayank Agarwal, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Siraj complete the list of batters who were dismissed by Ajaz on his way to a 10-wicket haul.
"This is what dreams are made of. To be out here and pick up four wickets on the first day is pretty special. At the same time, the job is only half done. So we have got to make sure we turn up tomorrow and really work hard for the last six wickets," Ajaz had said after ending Day 1 on 4 wickets.
"I'm really, really lucky to be sitting here with four wickets and I'm pretty happy to be in my hometown. At the Wankhede, it was pretty special for me," he added.