Karnataka's hand revealed in Ajaz's 'turn'around

At one point, Barrington Rowland was looked at as Karnataka’s next big offering to Indian cricket. This was the 2000s, and he was built in the mould of Rahul Dravid. Comparisons, therefore, came thick and fast.

And just like that, after 4,181 runs from 68 first-class matches for Karnataka, he was done in 2007 - the name rarely comes up even in Bengaluru. But if it wasn’t for his guidance, Ajaz Patel’s name probably wouldn’t have left Auckland, let alone take the world by storm.

Barrington moved to Auckland and started playing club cricket in the early 2010s. Even now, Ish Sodhi, the Kiwi leg-spinner, rates him as one of the toughest batters he has bowled against. But Barrington decided to put his coaching hat on and help those at the Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club. Ajaz happened to be there.

“He is a very good friend of mine,” Ajaz revealed. “I have known him since he moved to New Zealand and he joined our club. He’s a great person to bounce ideas off. I remember when I wanted to try switching from medium-pace to spin and he was one of those people who let me try it.”

Ajaz continued: “It was not easy but he was by me the whole time, helping me, guiding me and telling me how I should go about. Never once did he or the team tell me that I shouldn’t try bowling spin.”

The left-arm spinner also revealed Barrington’s hand in Ajaz’s impressive batting on tough Indian tracks. Ajaz remained not out in the four innings in the series, but none of those innings mattered as much as the second innings in Kanpur.

With one wicket to win, India kept six fielders around the bat to put away either Ajaz or Rachin Rachindra. Neither gave in, and NZ drew the Test.

“Barry was of great help when it came to learning how to play spin,” said Ajaz, who played 23 balls for 2 runs in that innings. “He’s very good at providing information about how to play spin in India. I spent time with him before coming here and he helped me a lot with my batting.”

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