Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel on Sunday did the unthinkable as he picked up his 23rd wicket at Wankhede Stadium to become the most successful overseas bowler at a single Test venue in India. (Day 3 Blog | Cricket News)
Set a target of 147 to chase, India's top-order collapsed dramatically as Ajaz dismissed four of the hosts' six wickets in the second innings. The left-armer sent back Shubman Gill (1) before taking the big wicket of Virat Kohli (1) caught at first-slip.
The 36-year-old then dismissed Sarfaraz Khan with a full-toss for 1 run and then claiming the milestone wicket in the form of Ravindra Jadeja (6) leaving the hosts reeling at 71/6 before Rishabh Pant took over.
Ajaz's 23 wickets saw him surpass Ian Botham's tally of 22 wickets at the same venue. The New Zealand bowler also possess the best haul by any overseas Test bowler on any ground in India.
“Being back in Mumbai is always quite special and it’s a place I call home as well. Having the opportunity to play out here again is quite special. To be honest, after my 10-wicket haul, I wasn’t sure whether I’d get another opportunity to play out here again throughout my career,” Ajaz had said before this match.
Most Test wickets by an overseas bowler at a ground in India
23* (4 innings): Ajaz Patel at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
22 (4 innings): Ian Botham at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
18 (4 innings): Richie Benaud at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
17 (4 innings): Courtney Walsh at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
16 (4 innings): Richie Benaud at Nehru Stadium, Chennai
In 2021, Ajaz had become only the third bowler in Test cricket history to take 10 wickets in innings after Jim Laker (1956) and Anil Kumble (1999). He finished that match with a stunning bowling figures of 14/225 - the best-ever by a visiting bowler on Indian soil.
In the current series, he has 19 in just three innings. Overall at Wankhede, Ashwin (41 in 12 innings) leads the charts followed by Anil Kumble (38 in 14 innings), Kapil Dev (28 in 21 innings), Harbhajan Singh (24 in 10 innings) and Kharsan Ghavri (23 in 11 innings).
