Ajaz thrilled at the prospect of playing six Tests in Asia

Imagine being a frontline spinner from a country that is known to produce world-class fast bowlers. Imagine then touring a tough place like India and making history by grabbing a sensational ten-wicket haul in only your 11th Test. Despite this remarkable achievement, imagine still not being recognized as a frontline spinner for your team and only getting the chance to feature in five of the next 19 Tests your team plays. This is the bittersweet reality of left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel.

The saving grace from that, which Ajaz understands for all practical reasons, is that whenever New Zealand have toured Asia since his ten-for, he has played in all four Tests. Despite being aware of the factors of team combinations and conditions, isn't it still a bit disappointing for Ajaz to hardly get to play in other countries?

"If you ask all New Zealand spinners, it is difficult," Ajaz said in Greater Noida three days before their one-off Test against Afghanistan. "Sometimes, obviously you don't get as many opportunities at home because of our home conditions. But it breeds more hunger when you do come to conditions like this, and you know conditions that are spin-friendly and you're quite hungry to get out there and play and put your best foot forward and perform.

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"But It's really important that you do prepare accordingly and prepare well. So it's just about going into these games and really enjoying the conditions and making the most of it.

"Look, I think you know we're in a professional environment and for us it's really important to just go out there and continue to work on our game and keep improving and keep growing. I guess after the ten wickets, obviously, you're a little bit disappointed because you don't get as many opportunities but at the same time as a player, it's still about growing your game and it's an opportunity to develop and grow.

"And I mean since my ten wickets, I've somewhat remodelled my run-up and look to grow myself and try and get better. So it's always about improving and making sure that you're ready whenever that next opportunity comes and putting your hand up."

After playing just five Tests in the last two and a half years, Ajaz could now go on to play six in just two months. Once the lone Test ends against Afghanistan, New Zealand fly to Sri Lanka for two Tests and then return to India for three more Tests. Form and fitness permitting, it could be a one-of-a-kind opportunity for Ajaz to play these six games because once they leave India in November, their next trip to Asia for Tests is in February 2027, according to the ICC's FTP.

"It always depends on conditions and it depends on form and you making sure that you play well, so you don't take it lightly," Ajaz said of the possibility of playing all six Tests in Asia until November. "But it is a great opportunity with obviously so many games in Asia to then kind of you know have those opportunities as a spinner. So it's something that I'm looking forward to. I'm pretty excited about it."

Another opportunity Ajaz has is to pick the brains of Sri Lanka's former ace left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who has joined NZC on a short-term basis.

"If you look at me and you look at Rangana, we're pretty similar in terms of our build and body types," Ajaz said. "While developing and growing my spin, I kind of watched him with a lot of admiration. So really, really special to have him here and for me, it's a great opportunity to spend some time with him and really understand how he crafted spin bowling. He was obviously very, very successful and a phenomenal bowler so it's just a great opportunity for me personally and to learn a lot from him."