(Reuters) – Ajaz Patel credited New Zealand bowling coach Shane Jurgensen for his record-equalling display against India on Saturday, after the spinner became the third player in history to claim all 10 wickets in a test match innings.
Patel achieved the feat in Mumbai, the city where he was born before moving to New Zealand as an 8-year-old, to join Jim Laker and Anil Kumble as the only players to take every opposition wicket in a single innings.
“Shane really fizzed me up for this one,” said Patel.
“If I’m honest, the last game I probably didn’t have the rhythm that I wanted, and Shane sent me a little clip of me against the world, basically.
“He sent me a clip of all my wickets from around the world against different opponents and that really got me fizzed up and really excited about the game coming here in Mumbai.
“It was exactly what I needed and he just keeps finding ways to get the best out of guys.”
England’s Laker first achieved the feat against Australia in 1956 while Kumble took all 10 wickets against Pakistan in 1999.
Patel finished with 10-119 after adding six wickets on Saturday to the four he claimed on Friday and former India leg spinner Kumble was among those to congratulate the 33-year-old.
“It’s an amazing achievement for me personally and I never dreamt that something like this would happen in cricket, but here I am standing in Mumbai with 10 wickets in an innings, so it’s pretty special,” he said.
“To get messages from such amazing cricketers and legends of the game has been very, very special for me and I thank them all for their kind words.
“I hope to be able to get around to all of them, but honestly I never expected that many messages.
“It is overwhelming but it’s very special to be mentioned alongside some of legends and even to get messages from some of those legends. It’s quite amazing.”
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by William Mallard)