After three years, Washington Sundar returned to Test cricket, and on the opening day, the Indian spinner demonstrated his worth in the longest format. After choosing to bat first in Pune, New Zealand got off to a strong start thanks to some outstanding cricket from opener Devon Conway, who once again kept the Kiwi ship afloat. Rachin Ravindra, who batted at number four, looked great as well, and the two of them appeared to be in complete control of the game.
Both the first and much of the second sessions were dominated by New Zealand. The game’s tone was altered, though, when India skipper Rohit Sharma returned Washington for his second spell shortly before tea. Up until Washington took back-to-back wickets of Tom Blundell and Rachin just before tea, the Kiwi hitters appeared to be at ease.
Rachin was unable to read the line and turn Washington’s off-spin, and he left for 65 runs off 105 deliveries. Wickets collapsed like a house of cards shortly after. In the end, Mitchell Santner attempted to establish a partnership but received no assistance from the other party. New Zealand scored 259 runs in the first innings thanks to the 33 runs scored by the all-rounder.
India dominated the Blackcaps on the first day thanks to the spinners’ combined efforts. Ravichandran Ashwin made a strong effort and got three wickets, joining Washington Sundar, who took seven on his comeback in the longest format. The Indian squad was able to limit the visitors to 259 on the first day of play thanks to the spinners’ difficult track.
Given how things went at the close of the second session and the start of the third, the management of the Kiwi squad will be extremely disappointed. At one time, they had a firm grip on the match, but Washington’s spin left their middle and lower order hitters helpless, and the 25-year-old took seven wickets to close the innings.
In the meantime, the management of the Indian team should be commended for inviting Washington to play the second Test. In addition to not playing in the first game, he was not included in the Indian squad.
Also Read: Twitter Reactions: Washington Sundar bags seven-for, registers best figures in First-Class cricket
He will probably receive a longer run now after his outstanding performance in Pune, and he might possibly go with the Indian squad to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts on November 22.
Here’s how X reacted:
New Zealand 259 all out vs India#INDvsNZ #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/DMHqMknD3A
— Shoaib Ahmed (@Shoaib_say) October 24, 2024
7 wickets for @Sundarwashi5 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥!!
Spinners domination in Pune 🫡..#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/6G7bg7ALXq
— Virat Naveen (@_Virat_Naveen_) October 24, 2024
#WashingtonSundar grabbed 7 wickets in a innings for #India against New Zealand in 2nd Test match at Pune.
Congratulations to wassi and whole India 🇮🇳#indvsnzl #INDvsNZ #PAKvsENG #RavichandranAshwin #ENGvsPAK pic.twitter.com/VYSjCK0SHq— Nahar Singh Meena (@ns7296) October 24, 2024
Superb performance Indian team.
India is a team that plays really well and the captain Rohit Sharma runs the game with a good strategy. #INDvNZ #INDvsNZ
#WashingtonSundar #GOAT #RavichandranAshwin #RohitSharma𓃵 #ViratKohli𓃵 #ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/kfePQI6D31— prince MD choudhary (@MDchoudhary100) October 24, 2024
3 Tera aur 7 Mera moment for Two Tamil Nadu spinners.
Senior #RavichandranAshwin & Man of the moment #WashingtonSundar .#INDvsNZ @ashwinravi99 @Sundarwashi5 pic.twitter.com/7t80rJYMk7
— alekhaNikun (@nikun28) October 24, 2024
Very Beautiful Scoreboard 💖😌
Now If team India will take 100 runs lead, we shall win 😎#INDvNZ #RohitSharma #NZvsIND #INDvsNZ #WashingtonSundar #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/UZVv7Uaqdi— Om (@Om_Upadhyay2006) October 24, 2024
NZ 259 all out.
Chief destroyer Washington Sunder
His figures; 23.1-4-59-7
Five were clean bowled!
And Gavaskar had criticised his inclusion in team!
— Shrikant Prabhudesai (@Shrikan87371336) October 24, 2024
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