Washington Sundar, the spinner brought into the team for the second and third Tests, dismissed star New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra for the third time in the series.
Sundar was not initially a part of the squad for the India vs New Zealand red-ball series but was later brought into the squad as an additional spinner for the second and third tests.
Rachin Ravindra has been New Zealand’s master batter in sub-continent conditions. However, the spinning track at Pune found Sundar breaking all hell loose for New Zealand as he got his maiden 10-wicket haul in firsr-class cricket.
After dismissing him twice in the Pune Test for a decent half-century in the first inning and then early on in the second, the spinner has also broken open his stumps wide in the first inning of the Wankhede Test.
Before dismissing Ravindra, Sundar also got rid of the skipper, Tom Latham, as New Zealand were reduced to 97/3 at Lunch on Day 1.
India’s supposed chances at the WTC:
India is not at all out of the World Test Championship race despite their huge drop in the PCT, which they recorded after the series loss to the New Zealand side, losing the first two Test matches.
India is still at the top of the points table of the WTC, while the PCT nears the defending champions Australia. The Australians, on the other hand, are looking forward to fancying their chances in the home BGT they would play against India.
India would have to manage a win in 4 of their next 6 WTC appearances, of which 5 games would be in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Losing any more than 2 games would mean India will also have to depend on other fellow contenders to enter into the third consecutive WTC final to be held at Lord’s in 2025.
