New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel reflected on his historic figures of 10/119 against India in the ongoing second Test, saying that to achieve a feat like this in his cricketing career has been ‘pretty special’.

Patel, who spent his early life in Mumbai before migrating to New Zealand in 1996, became just the third bowler after England’s Jim Laker and India’s Anil Kumble to claim all 10 wickets in an innings in Test cricket.

“Obviously quite a special occasion for me; not only me, my wife, my mom and dad, my family. A very special day for me for sure. To be honest, it’s pretty surreal, I don’t think you ever believe you are going to achieve something like that. To be able to do that in my career is pretty special,” said Patel in a chat with the broadcasters after the tea break was taken.

Patel, who picked 4/73 on day one of the ongoing second Test, picked the rest of six wickets on day two to achieve a rare feat in cricketing history.

Talking about reaching a rare feat at his hometown, Patel remarked, “By the grace of God, I am very fortunate, the stars have aligned for me, having an occasion like that here in Mumbai. To be born here and then come back here and achieve something like that is pretty special. I am in very illustrious company with Kumble sir as well.”

The 33-year-old refused to pick one scalp which was very special for him out of his 10-wicket haul.

“Don’t really have any one in particular, it’s just about finding good rhythm and just being repetitive and asking good questions of the batters.”