New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel recently made headlines after picking all 10 wickets in a single inning of a Test match in the second Test against India at the Wankhede Cricket Stadium. Surprisingly, the 33-year old hasn’t been picked in the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh.
Ajaz Patel stated that the team is inclined more towards strengthening the batting at the moment. He further added that he too is working on his batting and waiting for some opportunities in the future to exhibit his batting exploits.
“The reality is that they are looking for more batting at home and that is one aspect I am working on. Hopefully, there are a few opportunities to play some good knocks, and I will make sure that hunger is there. Right now, we’ve got some of the best proper fast bowlers we’ve ever had in New Zealand. That’s not disrespecting any other era but, that’s the reality now. In the future, it may be different where a specialist spinner becomes more valuable in that environment,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Patel as saying.
Ajaz Patel has made a constant urge to the groundsmen for making pitches that can aid the spinners while, at the same time, acknowledging the fact that doing that is difficult in the country. Continuing further on the same, he expressed his desire on how he would like to see pitches in New Zealand in the future.
“My job as a spinner is to show the groundsmen that something is possible here. And it’s up to the groundsmen to then turn around and say, ‘we want to see some spin bowling in New Zealand’. It’s about trying to drive that change. At the same time, it’s difficult to do that in home conditions. Mount Maunganui is the main ground at the moment when it comes to spin bowling in New Zealand,” he added.
“I’d love to see a few more wickets than offer something. Even in domestic cricket, there is space for groundsmen to experiment a little bit and give players a different challenge. Even from a batting perspective, it allows players to learn how to cope,” he concluded.
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