MUMBAI-BORN left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel on Saturday entered the record books as he became only the third bowler in the 144-year-old history of Test cricket to take all 10 wickets in an innings on the second day of the second match against India here. Patel, who had migrated to New Zealand with his parents back in 1996, ended the Indian innings with figures of 47.5-12-119-10 to equal England great Jim Laker and Indian legend Anil Kumble, who had achieved the rarest of rare feat in Test cricket. Laker claimed 10-53 against Australian at Old Trafford on July 26, 1956, while Kumble bagged 10-74 against Pakistan at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi on February 4, 1999.

 

Laker needed 51.2 overs to become the first bowler in the history of the game to take all-10 wickets in an innings while Kumble bowled only 26.3 overs for his haul. The 33-year-old Patel, who is playing in his 11th Test, had only two five-wicket hauls and a best match-haul of seven wickets before Saturday’s feat. He bowled four separate spells of 24-10-57-4, 5-0-16-0, 6-0-16-2, 12.5-2-30-4 and got his 10th and final wicket in the form of Mohammed Siraj, who tried a slog and was caught by another player of Indian origin Rachin Ravindra. Patel got a standing ovation from the Indian team as the umpires handed him the coveted ball while leading his team off the field. Incidentally, Patel is the second player after Douglas Jardine, who has played against India in his city of birth.