NEWS
Follow UsMumbai-born New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel expressed his delight at claiming a four wicket-haul on return to his place of birth. Patel starred with 4-73 on day one of the second Test against India at the Wankhede pitch.
"This is what the dreams are made of, to be out here and go out there and pick up four wickets on the first day is pretty special," he said during the press conference on Friday.
"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."
The 33-year old claimed the prized wickets of Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer as India ended the day at 221/4.
After being reduced to 80/3 before the tea break, India recovered through Mayank Agarwal's unbeaten 120.
"The job is only half done. We got to make sure we turn up tomorrow and fight hard for the remaining six wickets. It's quite evenly poised at the moment. It's a big day tomorrow," Patel said.
Patel, who had stints with the Mumbai Indians previously, said the pitch had something for the spinners.
"Yes definitely, there's assistance there for the spinners and we have got a bit more bounce than Kanpur. As a spinner, you want to bowl hard and put it in the right areas for a long period of time. It's about keeping the game plan simple and using the wicket as much as possible," he said.
Patel's fourth victim was Kanpur Test centurion Shreyas Iyer as he dismissed him for 18 to break his 80-run partnership with Agarwal.
"For me, it was really important that even though it was turning, I still had to make sure my line, angle and the ball position was correct," said the Kiwi star performer.
"From different angles, you got different levels of turn, some turned sharply and skidded on. I was looking to play around with that with the wicket being so responsive. It really challenged both sides of the edge."
"The reality of test cricket is if you put the ball in good areas for a long period of time, you will see rewards back. It was my day today," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)