New Zealand have included Ajaz Patel in their squad for the third Test match against the West Indies, at Mount Maunganui.
Ajaz Patel, fit Tom Blundell part of third Test squad
New Zealand recalled Ajaz and Blundell for the third Test against the West Indies, to be played at the Bay Oval. Blundell had sustained a hamstring tear during the first Test and missed the second. Debutant Mitchell Hay, who kept wicket in the latter, has been released to play domestic cricket for Canterbury.
A dislocated shoulder had forced Blair Tickner out of most of the second Test: New Zealand have replaced him with Ajaz, still the only cricketer to take ten wickets in an innings in a Test match away from home.
Ajaz, New Zealand’s primary specialist spinner, has had an unusual Test career. Of his 21 Tests, 16 have been in Asia and only three at home (the other two were in England). From these three home Tests, the last of which came in February 2020 (before the global lockdown), Ajaz did not take a single wicket. In fact, 38 of his 49 Test overs on home soil came in a single Test.
Ajaz’s last Test match was also New Zealand’s last in Asia: he took 11 wickets to help New Zealand defend 147 and inflict a famous 3-0 sweep on India. The Test was in Mumbai, Ajaz’s birthplace, where he now has 25 wickets, including ten in an innings, in two Tests at 15.40. No visiting bowler has more wickets at a single Indian venue.
Ajaz is in good form: he took 1-54 and 2-48 against Wellington and more recently, 2-37 and 3-37 against Canterbury in the ongoing Plunket Shield. During the last innings he went past the 400-wicket mark in first-class cricket.
Why did New Zealand recall Ajaz?
“Bay Oval, as we know, has typically taken more turn than other surfaces around New Zealand,” explained New Zealand head coach Rob Walter, “and the fact he turns the ball away from the right-hander is very appealing. Taking another spinner into the third Test also gives a bit more variance in our bowling attack, along with our seamers who have been doing a great job thus far this series.”
Of the four venues that have hosted Test cricket in New Zealand in the 2020s, spinners have indeed bowled the most at the Bay Oval (84.3 overs a Test), and also boast of the best bowling average (29.18), though Basin Reserve (29.46) is extremely close. Just as significant is their economy rate here (2.84): in no other New Zealand venue have spinners gone for under 3.5 an over.
New Zealand squad for third Test against the West Indies
Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
