Zaheer Khan says “Ajaz has adopted Jadeja and Axar’s success mantra in Indian conditions” in 2nd IND vs NZ Test

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan believes Ajaz Patel, a left-arm spinner from New Zealand, has picked up on Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel’s “success formula” and applied it to Indian conditions.

In the Mumbai Test, Ajaz took all ten of India’s wickets in the first innings. On Day 1, he took four wickets and added six more on Saturday, including the crucial wicket of centurion Mayank Agarwal for 150 runs.

Discussing the reasons behind Ajaz’s standout bowling effort, Zaheer told Cricbuzz that the 33-year-old Mumbai-born cricketer seems to have taken a leaf out of Jadeja and Axar’s books.

“I think Ajaz has adopted Jadeja and Axar’s success mantra in Indian conditions. He seems to have learnt from the way the two left-arm spinners bowl in India. We have seen Jadeja and Axar getting good drift, bowling wicket-to-wicket using the angle. And, as soon as there is help from the surface they become even more dangerous.” he said

Zaheer praised Ajaz and suggested that the visitors may have missed a trick by not playing Mitchell Santner, their other left-arm spinner.

“Ajaz has made very good use of his drift and arm ball. There is a lot of help for left-arm spinners on this surface. The story could have been different for New Zealand had Santner played. Maybe they missed a trick by not playing him.” he said

In the Mumbai Test, Ajaz took all ten wickets, but off-spinner William Somerville was ineffectual. In 19 overs, he had no wickets and gave up 80 runs.

Zaheer Khan

Only Ajaz seemed like he could take wickets among the New Zealand spinners. Indian spinners, according to Zaheer, will be far more effective since they understand how to take advantage of the conditions.

In the post-lunch session, he dismissed Agarwal (150) before dismissing Axar (52), Jayant Yadav (12), and Mohammed Siraj (4) to become the third player after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to take all ten wickets in an innings.

Read more: India vs New Zealand: Sachin Tendulkar says “I don’t believe there is a technological issue”

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