Ajaz Patel, a young New Zealand spinner, departed India with one more thing than a backpack full of memories of returning to his birthplace and writing his name in history with a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Ravichandran Ashwin, a famous Indian spinner, received a verified blue tick on his social media handle after making a funny request to Twitter Verified shortly after Ajaz’s historic ten-wicket haul.
Ashwin took to Twitter shortly after the record achievement to say, “A ten-wicket haul in an innings absolutely deserves to be confirmed here, @verified! @AjazP’s face is filled with tears of delight.” ‘@AjazP’ had the verified blue tick beside his username after a space of seven hours.
In the second innings, Ajaz picked up four more wickets to finish with 14 for 225, the highest bowling statistics in a Test against India and the best by a New Zealand bowler in Asia. With his 15 wickets in the Mumbai Test, Ajaz came within one wicket of matching Richard Hadlee’s 15 wickets in Brisbane in 1985, which remains the best bowling figure by a New Zealand bowler.
“It’s been a very memorable outing, a dream come true to play at Wankhede and to be able to come here and perform something like that,” Ajaz said in a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday.
Ajaz also recalled his days playing in Mumbai’s maidans, however he conceded that his development was more structured after he moved to New Zealand.
“Early on in India, it was all about playing cricket in a maidan simply for the sake of having fun with a rubber ball or a hefty tennis ball. It was given a little more structure in New Zealand. Indians are crazy with cricket, thus our family still plays every hour in the backyard “Ajaz stated.
