Ajaz Patel reveals life-changing conversation with dad that helped him find spin

When Ajaz Patel was at crossroads after not being picked for the New Zealand U19 World Cup squad he was shattered The leftarm spinner then a young leftarm pacer standing at five feet and six inches missed the bus and was left wondering what nextThen came a conversation with his father Yunus which proved to be lifechangingI had been working really hard to make it to the Under 19 squad As a youngster you feel that if I dont make it to the Under 19 squad it will then be hard to make it to the international level or go to the next stage I remember having a conversation with my dad and said to him Look I tried really hard worked very hard got some results But I didnt get picked I was upset and was almost in tears He said to me Look everything that happens happens for a reason You got to find the silver lining That got me to explore what is the silver lining in this situation said Ajaz Patel in an interview with IANS organised by Amazon Prime VideoSaying silver lining was one thing but searching for it was another Patel stumbled upon spin bowling which he hadnt tried beforeBehind every bad reason there is something good which is underlined it and you just got to find it I went searching for it and realised my reason was probably the fact that I needed to do something different to get there So that got me to start thinking about spin bowling and everything else kind of unfolded from that That was a massive conversation for me and something that has probably driven my journey to where I am todayPatel who hadnt bowled spin until his 21st birthday embarked on a route that has now seen him become just the third bowler in the history of Test cricket to pick all ten wickets in an innings The late bloomers fairytale moment against India at Mumbai a place where he spent his early childhood was all dreamlike Behind the incredible feat were the effort and hard work put in transitioning from pace to spinIt has been a lot of hard work I spent a lot of time developing the action and getting a good understanding of what certain parts of the action do to you when it comes to spin bowling It was quite foreign to begin with But as I continued to grow and learn the craft I started to improve my own technique and started to tinker with things to kind of try and perfect it I still kind of feel like theres a lot more that I can do to improve So its just a gradual process and continue trying to get better with each time you get outThe transformation in Patel becoming a leftarm spinner needed expertise and support something which came from three men former Black Caps spinner Dipak Patel former India U19 and Karnataka batter Barrington Rowland now a cricket coach in Auckland and Heinrich Malan his coach at Central Districts Stags when the now 33yearold began his spin journeyDipak Patel was massive in terms of the whole kind of technique aspect and learning what is exactly required from a technical point in terms of spin bowling Barrington Rowland who was my club coach here provided me the support to feel comfortable in doing that and bowl some seam and then come back to bowling spin When I grew further in my career my domestic and firstclass coach Heinrich Malan at that time really honed my match awareness and the understanding of the game out there in the middleNow I still bounce ideas between Dipak Heinrich Barry and Paul Wiseman former New Zealand offspinner turned coach There are a lot of people who have got me to the point where I am right now and for that I am thankful Thats the thing about a cricketers journey there are so many people who have influenced every cricketer on the way through You probably may miss one or two names but you are trying to name allLooking up to the future New Zealand has two Tests against Bangladesh at home Patel knows that his place in the playing eleven will be dictated by the conditions at home which dont favour spin as much as the subcontinent provides for which means a change in role for spinnersThe role is certainly different in New Zealand I think depending on the game situation a lot of times you will probably see more of someone who can hold up an end while the seamers can attack from the other You are probably somewhat limited by how much turn you are getting off the surface and how much response you getting from itIn a sense we have to dial back a little bit and try and just restrict as much as we can to try and see if squeeze a wicket through that In the subcontinent we can have a lot of fielders around the bat and put a lot of pressure on the batsman to try and hit the good balls Whereas over here we set a lot of straight fields and bowl lots of dot ballsTalking further about the future Patel sounded optimistic about New Zealands international cricket matches being broadcasted live on Amazon Prime Video in India Thats the way sports are moving forward now I think live streaming allows you accessibility regardless of where you are In the past if you had to use the phone you had to be sitting at home in front of the television Now you can be really anywhere to use your mobile and be able to view live matches games and stuff like that It certainly increases the accessibility of the people with live sportsAsked about what he is looking forward to watching on the streaming platform Patel said I have had heard a lot about the Aussie series The Test A New Era for Australias Team in terms of Test matches and behind the scenes footage from their games That is something I am really looking forward to watch at some stagePatel signed off by saying he isnt sure how his life story or tenwicket haul in Mumbai will be adapted either as a documentary web series or feature film Not too sure I think you guys know better than I do on how the best it will look Honestly its a very good questionAmazon Prime Video debuts in Live cricket streaming on January 1 2022 after multiple years of being Indias most loved entertainment destinationThis story has been sourced from a third party 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