Ajaz Patel Height, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Ajaz Patel Height, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ajaz Patel

• Ajaz Patel is an international cricketer who plays for the New Zealand team as the left arm-off spinner. He is basically an Indian-origin cricketer who hails from Bharuch, Gujarat.

• He gained the limelight after taking ten wickets against India on 3 December 2021 thus becoming the third cricketer to do so in test cricket after Jim Laker (1956) and Anil Kumble (1999). He ended his inning spell with a figure of 10/119 from 47.5 overs. BCCI tweeted after that spell,

  Incredible achievement as Ajaz Patel picks up all 10 wickets in the 1st innings of the 2nd Test.

  He becomes the third bowler in the history of Test cricket to achieve this feat.#INDvNZ @Paytm pic.twitter.com/5iOsMVEuWq

  — BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2021

  After that spell, his maternal grandfather told in an interview,

  “All of us are overjoyed of what Ajaz has achieved. He has made a place for himself in cricketing history.”

  Arif Bapuji, a relative of Ajaz said,

  “Ajaz is a wonderful cricketer. After his selection in the Kiwis team, we invited him to be the chief guest for one of our local tournaments. But due to a busy schedule he couldn’t make it. I attended his marriage in Mumbai and I am happy for him.”

  

  Ajaz Patel giving thumps up after taking 10 wickets in an inning against India in December 2021 at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai)

• His father used to run an electronic sales and service business in Mumbai, Jogeshwari area after which in 1996, he migrated to New Zealand where he now runs a tire business in Auckland. Ajaz was eight-year-old at that time. [10]
  

  Ajaz Patel when he was eight years old

• After migrating to New Zealand, he never wanted to become a full-time cricketer. He played cricket on a casual basis. It was only when his uncle Saeed Patel who works as a coach in a local cricket league saw him play cricket for the school, he enrolled him in the Newlyn cricket club. That’s where his cricket journey began and he started playing for under 15s. He revealed in an interview that,  [11]“I had a coach at under 15s who was very much about performance and being professional – working on our catching, our fielding, our skill work – rather than just going out and playing. That’s where the game became a lot more competitive and a lot more structured and I think that’s why I began to enjoy it a lot more.”
• He always wanted to be a fast bowler. Once, he couldn’t make it to the New Zealand under-19 side. However, Kenyan-born New Zealand cricketer Dipak Patel advised him to make an alternation in his bowling and switch to spin bowling. Revealing in an interview to a local News Channel, he told“I switched from pace to spin as I felt that I was going to be limited with my progression in pace as I was not gonna get any taller. And because I was passionate about getting further with my cricket, I knew that I would need to make a change and try something else and I decided that spin was my strongest option.”
• In 2012, he joined the Taradale club and started pursuing a domestic career with the Central District. His bowling impressed Taradale’s coach Sean Davies so much that he remarked, [12]“His attitude towards club cricket is of a similar standard to how he conducts himself in the first-class game. He’s incredibly professional.”

  He further adds,

  “Often you can see a first-class cricketer when they come back to club level, the effort’s not necessarily as good as it could be, but he’s the polar opposite. He’s a fantastic professional, in every sense.”
• Ajaz made his List-A debut on 27 December 2015 in the 2015-16 Ford Trophy. He was the leading wicket-taker for his side in the 2015–16 Plunket Shield season with 43 wickets. In the following two seasons, he emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the same tournament with 44 and 48 dismissals respectively. In June 2018, he was awarded a contract with Central Districts for the 2018–19 season.
  

  Ajaz Bowling in a domestic match

• As a result of his consistent performances in the domestic circuit, he made his international debut for the New Zealand cricket team in October 2018 in a T20I game where he took one wicket while opening the bowling for his team. In November, he made his Test debut against the same side where he took two and five wickets in both innings respectively. He ended his match spell with 123 runs in 47.4 overs and took seven wickets, with New Zealand winning the match by four runs. He is the fifth Indian-origin cricketer to play for New Zealand after Ted Badcock, Tom Puna, Ish Sodhi, and Jeet Raval. During the same tour, he was added to the ODI squad. However, he did not get a chance to play in that series.
  

  Ajaz Patel being congratulated by teammates after taking his maiden international wicket against Pakistan on 31 October 2018

  

  Ajaz Patel appeals successfully for LBW against Azhar Ali during his debut test match at Abu Dhabi in November 2018

• In November 2021, Ajaz was added to New Zealand’s test squad for the tour of India where he will be playing two test matches. The first match ended in a draw with Ajaz taking two wickets in the first inning and one in the second. In the second test in December 2021, Ajaz finished off with his record spell of 10 for 119 runs. In the second inning, he took four wickets for 106 runs in 26 overs.
  

  Ajaz Patel looks at the Honors Board at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at the end of the first day of the second test against India on 2 December 2021

  

  Team India’s coach Rahul Dravid congratulates Ajaz Patel for taking ten wickets against India on 3 December 2021 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

• He once revealed that his international debut in Abu Dhabi is his most memorable cricket memory.