900 km away from Chennai, this player increased the tension, and will be a threat to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Team India has made a great start to its season by winning the first match of the Test series against Bangladesh. Team India, which will play 10 consecutive Tests in the next few months, easily won the first Test match in Chennai by a margin of 280 runs. Now Team India's focus will be on the second Test match to be held in Kanpur. Although the team and every player focus on one match at a time, they have already got a glimpse of the danger coming next month. This is the danger that will give the most tension to Team India's captain Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli, who failed miserably in the first Test. This danger can become a cause of trouble for both batsmen in the India-New Zealand series.
When Team India was celebrating the victory in Chennai on Sunday afternoon, September 22, Sri Lanka's batsmen were facing trouble on their own ground in Galle, about 900 kilometers away. This was the fourth day of the first test match being played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the host Sri Lankan team was batting in the second innings. Sri Lanka had scored 240 runs by losing 4 wickets till the third day and the team was looking in a good position but in the first session itself, it lost the remaining 6 wickets. The entire team collapsed at 309 runs. This was the condition of Sri Lanka due to Ejaz Patel.
Ejaz Patel wreaked havoc.
Indian-origin left-arm spinner Ejaz Patel wreaked havoc on the fourth day's pitch. He took 5 out of 6 wickets of Sri Lanka on Sunday morning. He first dismissed captain Dhananjaya de Silva and then caused a collapse. His next victims were Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Ramesh Mendis, and number 10 batsman Lahiru Kumara. Earlier on the third day, he took the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne, who played a brilliant innings of 83 runs. In this way, Ejaz took 6 wickets for 90 runs in 30 overs. He had also taken 2 wickets in the first innings. That is, he showed his prowess by taking 8 wickets in the first test.
After the Sri Lanka tour, New Zealand will tour India to play 3 Test matches. In this series starting in October, spinners will be in focus and Ajaz Patel will be the biggest harbinger for New Zealand. If he comes to India with such form, then it is a warning bell for Team India's two biggest batsmen, Rohit and Virat. In the first Test match against Bangladesh, Virat scored a total of 23 runs and Rohit scored just 11 runs. It is possible that both batsmen return to form before the New Zealand series, but still, the threat in the form of Ajaz Patel will remain.
The danger for Rohit-Virat and Shubman
The reason for this danger is the record of both the batsmen. Actually, in the last 3 years, Rohit and Virat have been quite troubled against left-arm spinners. Statistics show that in these three years, Rohit has faced 473 balls against left-arm spinners and scored 277 runs but has also been out 8 times during this period. At the same time, Virat Kohli has faced 686 balls and scored 272 runs but has also lost his wicket 9 times. Not only Rohit-Virat, but this danger will also remain in front of Shubman Gill, who scored a century in Chennai. Before the Chennai Test, Gill had scored only 202 runs in 481 balls against left-arm spinners and lost his wicket 10 times.
Will you do wonders again in Mumbai?
Everyone remembers Ajaz Patel for his historic performance, which was seen only on the 2021 India tour. Then Ajaz surprised the whole world by taking all 10 wickets in the first innings of the Mumbai Test. He became only the third bowler to do so in cricket history. The batsmen who got out then included Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who will play against New Zealand this time too. He did not even let Kohli open his account. Not only this, Patel also took 3 wickets in the second innings. This time too, a Test will be played between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. In such a situation, all eyes will be on Ajaz again.