IND vs NZ: What a comeback day for India, as India pulled back the game to their side at Pune after a dismaying outing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where India faced a crushing defeat.
Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma faced some criticism over bringing in so many changes to the Indian Playing 11, the most absurd of them being Washington Sundar in place of Kuldeep Yadav.
Even the likes of Gavaskar in the commentary box slammed the pick of Washington Sundar, as he said Sundar is picked in order to strengthen their batting order and not as a spinner since he said Kuldeep was a better player in taking the ball away from left-handers, a reason Gambhir specified for picking Sundar.
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IND vs NZ: Dream Return for Washington Sundar
A few days ago, Washington Sundar was not even part of the 15-member squad of the Indian team; instead, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder was busy scoring 150 runs with the bat and picking a couple of three-fors across both innings of play against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.
Washington Sundar went on to pick 7 wickets for India, which turned his best-ever test figures and maiden 5-for for India. Alongside his Tamil Nadu teammate, he went on to clean up the Kiwi batters for 259 runs in the first inning.
Ashwin’s new record set in the WTC
Ashwin picked the first three wickets of the day, which included the likes of skipper Tom Latham, Will Young, and set opener Devon Conway, as in this feat he surpassed fellow competitor Nathan Lyon for most wickets both in the WTC and the highest number of Test career wickets.
Ashwin now has 189 WTC wickets more than Nathan Lyon, while also he now has 531* wickets in First Class cricket history which is 1 wicket more than the Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon.
Gambhir, the tactical genius behind India’s stunning Day 1
Gautam Gambhir is now a proud coach as his tactical brilliance has once again emerged to be successful for the side, as Ashwin has owned Pune’s spin-favorite track spinners and later by Washi post lunch for India.
For the Kiwis, the two batters who had the finest match at the Chinnaswamy continue their good form, as they now have scored 76 and 65, respectively, from Conway and Ravindra. India in their batting inning faced an early setback with the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma.
Every Indian fan anticipates the iconic Indian batters to step up and score hundreds to give India the desired lead in the second Test.