"Deserves to be verified here" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Ajaz Patel's Twitter handle
Ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has asked for Ajaz Patel's Twitter handle to be verified after the Kiwi spinner took all 10 wickets in India's first innings in the second and final Test in Mumbai.
Left-arm spinner Patel became only the third bowler to achieve the feat in Test history, joining England's Jim Laker and India's Anil Kumble in the exclusive club. Unfortunately for New Zealand, Patel's efforts (47.5-12-119-10) went in vain as the visitors lost by 372 runs.
After the Test, Ashwin tagged the official handle of Twitter Verified in his tweet asking for Patel's handle to be verified.
Take a look at Ashwin's tweet below:
Dear @verified , a ten wicket bag in an innings definitely deserves to be verified here! 😂 @AjazP
Ravichandran Ashwin wins his ninth Player of the Series award in Test cricket
With 14 wickets in two Tests and 70 useful runs to go with it, Ashwin was declared the Player of the Series after the hosts bagged the two-match series 1-0.
Ashwin picked up three wickets in each innings of the drawn first Test in Kanpur, while also contributing 38 and 32 with the bat. Those runs came at a crucial juncture in the game, with India having their backs to the wall.
Ashwin was bowled by Patel off the very first delivery he faced in the opening innings in Mumbai, but the wily off-spinner bowled spectacularly for a match-haul of 8-42.
"Series win is always special... Well done to Mayank Agarwal and the entire squad for some great efforts through the series," Ashwin wrote on Instagram.
Ashwin (427 wickets) surpassed Harbhajan Singh (417) during the first Test to become India's third highest wickettaker in Tests. He is only eight wickets away from eclipsing Kapil Dev (434) in the list, with former Test captain Kumble the only other Indian ahead of him.