Surreal yet bittersweet. That’s how the day seemed to have turned out for Ajaz Patel, after his record 10-wicket haul brought New Zealand back in the ongoing second Test at the Wankhede in Mumbai, only for their batsmen to spoil his rare feat with below-par batting.

His team is completely on the backfoot in this Test at present, but that doesn’t take away any credit from the Mumbai-born spinner’s sensational bowling figures (47.5-12-119-10) at his home away from home.

“Personally, I believe it’s one of the greatest cricketing days of my life. I think it will probably always be,” Ajaz acknowledged during a virtual media interaction at the end of play on Day II.

“We’ve got to make sure we front up tomorrow (Sunday) and scrap as much as we can. We know we’re on the backfoot, but we still got to come out here and make sure we work as hard as possible to try and see how we can turn the game around or even eke out something special,” Ajaz said, oozing optimism.

With one shy from the special 10-wicket feat, Ajaz did admit to feeling a bit nervous, before his good friend Rachin Ravindra took the catch after Mohammed Siraj, the left-arm spinner’s 10th scalp, mis-hit one high in the air.

“It was nervous times. Obviously, you’d still back Rachin to be under that, but I saw the ball wobble as it was coming down, and I was a bit nervous. But Rachin took a brilliant catch there,” Ajaz said.

“I said to Neil Wagner who ran on before the 10th wicket, ‘I’m more nervous now than I’ve been all game’. So it was pretty special, and knowing that you’re going to achieve something special was quite unbelievable. I’m just ecstatic that I got to do it in Mumbai,” Ajaz added.

But what exactly was going on in Siraj’s mind that led him to go for that shot? “Ajaz bowled extraordinarily well on a turning wicket, so I wanted to attack him and put him under extra pressure. That is the reason for the shot,” Siraj, who triggered New Zealand’s first-innings collapse, reasoned.

The highlights of Anil Kumble’s memorable 10/74 versus Pakistan in New Delhi (in 1999) have also been seen by Ajaz many times. “It was really, really cool to see his (Kumble’s) message and hear his kind words. I’m very humbled and fortunate to be in such fine company,” Ajaz signed off.