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Axar claims maiden 10 wicket-haul in only his second Test match

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/26/2021 1:52:53 PM

New Delhi, Feb 25 Left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel claimed his maiden 10-wicket haul on the second day of the third Test with England captain Joe Root’s dismissal. Axar Patel, who claimed 6/38 in England’s 1st innings, came back on day two to dismiss Zak Crawley of the very first delivery of the visitors’ second innings. Patel, thus, found himself in an elite list of spinners who have claimed a wicket off the first delivery of a Test innings. The Indian left-arm spinner is only the fourth spinner in Test history to have reached that feat. England’s Bobby Peel (1888) and South Africa’s Bert Vogler (1907) are the first two spinners in the list to have achieved this feat in the pre-war era. Meanwhile, Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are the only two spinners to have their names up on the list in the post war era. Ashwin claimed the wicket of Rory Burns on the first ball of England’s 2nd innings in the first Test in Chennai. On day one of the Pink Ball Test, Patel bagged his second five-wicket haul with the dismissal of Stuart Broad in the second session. By doing so, the 27-year-old spinner has become only the third Indian bowler to take a 5- wicket haul in his first two matches. The first one to do so was former India pacer Mohammad Nisar, who made his debut in June of 1932 and achieved this feat in his second Test which was in the month of December in the year 1933.