Don't necessarily believe we've outbowled Indian spinners: Ajaz Patel

New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel feels if the surface assists spinners early on day three, the Blackcaps could trouble India in the final innings of the third Test in Mumbai. New Zealand have a lead of 143 in the second innings but only have one wicket remaining. 

"Whatever we score, we're going to have to try and do our best to restrict India, but it'll be interesting to see how the wicket continues to play,” said Patel, who took five wickets in the first innings.

"It's turning quite sharply; it's inconsistent in terms of how much it does turn and bounce, but as a spinner, it's encouraging as well that you're going to get something out of the surface and for batting, it's quite challenging.

"It is certainly turning from both ends; it's just the bounce is a little bit variable, so from a batting perspective, that can be a challenge as well. If we have seen the pattern in terms of the wicket over the last couple of days in the morning, it probably doesn't do as much as the afternoon.

"Whether that's due to the rolling or whether that's due to the heat and the wicket drying up throughout the day, I'm unsure. It'll be interesting to see how that wicket plays tomorrow morning, whether it kind of reacts the same way or whether it's a little bit different.”

Patel also praised India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who smashed 60 off 59 deliveries and put New Zealand under pressure in the first hour of day two. "I felt like I bowled really well but Rishabh batted exceptionally, he's been phenomenal throughout this tour and he's kind of the player that's put pressure back on us, regardless of the situation.

"As long as you’re putting the ball in good areas and you have a good plan and a good set field, then it's about him taking the option and he is being very, very good and taking the right options.”

New Zealand spinners have produced better numbers than their Indian counterparts in this series. While they have operated at an average of 23.4 and a strike rate of 35.6, the Indian spinners have gone about their business at an average of 28.1 and balls/wicket of 44.4. Patel, however, doesn’t feel that they have outbowled the Indian spinners.

"I don't necessarily believe we've out-bowled the Indian spinners; the class of the Indian bowling attack is quite phenomenal. For us as a spin bowling group, we’ve grown a lot and we can continue to show that everyone is quite capable, there's a lot of communication between us and we make sure that we're all aware of what the plan is at a certain given time.”

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