Blackcaps v India: Ajaz Patel's 10-wicket haul 'phenomenal' - Brendon McCullum

Blackcaps spinner Ajaz Patel's achievement in becoming only the third bowler in history to pick up all 10 wickets in a test innings continues to make waves in the cricket world.

No bowler had ever taken 10 wickets away from home - and he was playing his first test in the city of his birth, Mumbai, India.

Former Blackcaps skipper Brendon McCullum tells Newshub Patel's effort is "absolutely unbelievable".

"Just quite a surreal moment for Ajaz and for all New Zealand cricket fans, I guess," he says. "To go on and get 10-for, it's just phenomenal really.

"You need a lot of luck to go your way too, but he certainly earned that luck, through the sheer weight of overs that he bowled."

In terms of special cricket performances over the years, McCullum says Patel's has "got to be up there".

"I guess the only thing is it may not be match-defining, but who really cares? The fact is he's ticked off the kind of Holy Grail of what anyone's after in individual performances in a test match and to do it in his town of birth is a pretty astonishing thing."

Ajaz Patel.
Ajaz Patel. Photo credit: Photosport

Patel, whose parents immigrated to New Zealand in 1996, will be a role model for many young Kiwis looking to make it in cricket, McCullum adds.

"New Zealand cricket, what we've always tried to be is an opportunity for everyone. They come to our country and be part of our country, and you are a Kiwi.

"You look at Ajaz and he's made a sacrifice, and his family's made a sacrifice to come to our country, and we're about diversity and opportunity in our country."

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