Cricket: Patel keen to prove himself

Jeetan Patel. Photo / Getty Images

Jeetan Patel is determined to make a genuine difference on New Zealand's cricket tour of India.

He is not content to operate in the slow bowling slipstream of captain Daniel Vettori and desperately wants to leave his own mark on the three-test series.

"My job is to support Dan but it is also to be a wicket-taking option," Patel said today.

Things did not go according to plan for the Wellington offspinner in the drawn first test at Ahmedabad but Patel remains convinced he can have a significant say when the second test starts here at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday.

"The first test was only a five out of 10 for me, it was still only par compared to where I want to be," he told NZPA after a solid nets session at the new test match venue.

"I want to keep improving. There is hope for me to get seven (out of 10) here and at the end of the series to be at a 10.

"If I can go home at 10 out of 10 I think we'll have gone pretty close to winning a test match."

Patel's test opportunities have been few and far between since he debuted in 2006.

Long regarded as his country's second best spinner behind left-armer Vettori, a combination of pitch conditions and New Zealand's traditional reliance on seam has restricted him to just 12 tests in 4-1/2 years.

Not that that has doused the fire of ambition which still burns brightly for the 30-year-old.

And he knows that if he can prove himself against India's intimidating batting lineup in Indian conditions then no one can question his value.

"If you can succeed over here as a spinner or a seamer that will mean you must be doing something right," said Patel, who battled a dead pitch in the first test when returning a match analysis of just three for 207 at Ahmedabad.

But he at least had the satisfaction of accounting for super stars Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman during a top spell in India's first innings of 487.

Patel will be much the wiser for that experience heading into the second test at a 35,000-seat stadium which is to host Hyderabad's first test since John Wright's New Zealand team appeared here 22 years ago.

"Against statistically the best batting lineup in the world if you make even a little mistake it is easy runs for them," he said.

"In New Zealand the margin for error is much bigger. Over here, guys have played against such good spin for so long that there just isn't that room for error.

"In New Zealand you are used to bowling 18 dot balls before something happens whereas at this level over here it can take up to six overs."

That requires the tourists to repeatedly remind themselves of the need for patience, be it with ball in hand, in the field or while batting.

Patel's patience itself has been examined by the infrequency of his test appearances, something he understands has often had nothing to do with the qualities he can add to the side.

But he does want to make it as difficult as possible for the selectors to overlook him and to that end he has continued to reinvent himself.

He has remodelled his action and shortened his run up to in turn shorten his delivery stride.

"It just helps me add more revolutions on the ball. It means the ball can do a lot more in the air and then off the deck," he said.

"The whole point of spin bowling is to create concern for the batsman over what the ball is going to do over the last metre.

"The best spin bowlers in the world let the ball out and it looks like it will do one thing and then does the other. That's where they create doubt."

- NZPA