Mumbai-born New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel has emerged as the hot new flavor of the cricketing world. Ever since Ajaz achieved the historic feat of picking up all ten wickets in a single inning, speculations have been rife about all the interesting prospects that lie ahead for the promising 33-year-old cricketer.
One of the big stories going around in world cricket at the moment is that Ajaz- thanks to his exceptional spin bowling performance in Mumbai- will be a hot pick in the upcoming IPL 2022 mega-auctions. Quality spin-bowling options are fixed staples for every team in the IPL. And when that staple comes with a perfect 10/ 10 score- quite literally so- it becomes virtually guaranteed that a player of Ajaz’s caliber would bag a lucrative deal at the auction table. Right?
But cruel as it seems, as much as Ajaz would be privileged to find a buyer during the IPL pre-season, nothing in life comes guaranteed- let alone something as coveted as a chance to feature in the premier T20 tournament of the world. So in this article, we will go over 3 reasons as to why Ajaz Patel- despite matching the likes of legends like Anil Kumble and Jim Laker in the test format- could possibly go unsold at the IPL auctions.
1. Vast disparity between Ajaz’s Test and T20 numbers
For as celebrated as a red-ball player Ajaz Patel is, the fact of the matter is that there’s a big difference between the test and the T20 formats. And when it comes to the shortest format of the game, Ajaz hasn’t really been able to stamp his authority.
In his career of 62 T20 matches, Ajaz has picked up 73 scalps at a strike rate of 17.6. His best performance in the shortest format till-date was the four-wicket haul he picked up against Bangladesh in a T20I this September. While not bad numbers per-se, factually, Ajaz has not really made a lot of ripples in the T20 format. This is further established from the fact that he wasn’t involved with the New Zealand team in any capacity in their recently concluded WT20 campaign.
In first-class cricket, Ajaz has been a prolific wicket-taker, and his stats read 265 wickets from 65-games. Quite the difference? It could well prove to be that this difference in the dimensions of the game could be a major deterrent to Ajaz’s IPL dreams.
2. Franchises would be sceptical to invest based on one innings
It would be incredibly unfair to label Ajaz’s stellar display of spin bowling at Mumbai as a one-time wonder. In his budding test-match career, Ajaz has shown some real glimpses of brilliance and is quickly establishing himself as the frontline spinner of the red-ball team.
Ajaz has been spinning magic with the ball right from his test debut in 2018, where he bagged a Player of the Match performance against Pakistan. Ajaz’s test credentials have been growing in stocks ever since that iconic debut, and yet he has been eluded of an IPL contract every single year. Clearly, the scouting sources of the IPL franchises haven’t yet made up their minds on including Ajaz Patel in their T20 lineups.
So while an exceptional spin-bowling display in home conditions could potentially amp up Ajaz Patel’s IPL chances, realistically, a single performance in isolation will not be enough to impress several of the franchises.
3. Intense spin-bowling competition could hurt Ajaz’s chances
If circumstances permit, IPL seasons are usually played out in India’s home conditions, where domestic spin-bowlers have an inherent advantage over their fast-bowling counterparts. The slow, turning nature of Indian pitches allows a number of local spinners to be the leading bowlers of their respective teams. The likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, and Ravi Bishnoi are good examples of such a spin-bowling-centered template that many IPL teams have been known to follow.
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As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for international spin bowlers to find their feet in such an intense, spin-heavy tournament, and on most occasions, overseas spinners are eschewed for a foreign fast-bowler or a batsman. Players like Adil Rashid and Tabraiz Shamsi- two of the best leg-spinners in the international T20 circuit- have found it difficult to be regular members of their respective IPL sides.
So one can only imagine how much tougher the challenge will be for Ajaz, an off-spinner, who still has a lot to prove in the shortest format of the game, to bag an IPL deal when several quality spin-bowling options already exist.