The left-arm spinner made the most of the helpful track, picking up 27 wickets against England in the four-Test series earlier this year. And now, in the ongoing two-Test series against New Zealand He has taken nine wickets so far and has reached 36 in five Tests in 2021 at an impressive average of 11.86.
New Zealand have five more wickets left in the second Test Wankhede, the 27-year-old can increase his count further. While he has tasted instant success in Test cricket in his debut season, Patel has also faced some setbacks.
The all-rounder, soon after walking away with all the accolades against England, was put down by covid and was quarantined in mumbai 20 days ago IPL,
In England, he spent time twirling his thumb: Virat Kohli played Ravindra Jadeja next to it and R Ashwin,
Patel was back for the rest of the IPL and was also picked for the T20 World Cup, only to be demoted to the standby list by the selectors who were struggling to perfect their combination.
However, these odds didn’t seem to have any effect as Patel has not only made great strides in terms of his bowling, but he seems to have made remarkable improvements in his batting as well.
Patel has scored 52 and 41 (in 26 balls) on the difficult pitch of Mumbai. His half-century in the first outing helped propel India’s innings, while in the second he made good use of the long handle.
“The team management has faith in my batting abilities and they have always told me ‘you can do it’. Earlier when I got chances, I couldn’t convert my starts. But this time when I got a chance, I was able to convert. My batting is benefitting my team and if you see that I, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) and Ash bhai (R Ashwin) play as all-rounders, it puts a little pressure on our batsmen. So it’s a good sign. As long as I keep contributing, it’s good for both me and my team.” letters Said after the third day’s play on Sunday.
Asked to assess his year, he said, “Actually, it has been my dream year, you might say. The way I bowled in the England series and now how the New Zealand series ended, there was IPL in between.” , so I can say that it has really been a good year for me personally. I try to keep improving and look at the areas where I need to be better. The hard work I put in all these years It has finally got its result this year.”
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