Washington Sundar was the star of the show on his return to Indian cricket team with seven wickets as visiting New Zealand were spun out for 259 on the opening day of the second Test on Thursday.
Devon Conway, 76, and Rachin Ravindra, 65, led the New Zealand batting after captain Tom Latham won the toss. But it was off-spinner Sundar who stole the show with 7/59, alongside 3/64 for fellow off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
Sundar returned to the Test side after March 2021 and justified his place with his first five-wicket haul from five appearances.
The pitch is expected to turn more as the match progresses as India look to level the three-match series after their opening defeat in Bengaluru.
“The way it came through, fact that I wasn’t part of the first Test and I was called for this particular Test and given the opportunity to play in the XI, I was really grateful to the coach and captain. Unbelievable feeling,” said Sundar at the end of the day.
Conway and fellow left-hander Ravindra put on 62 runs for the third wicket, but Sundar struck on either side of tea.
After removing Southee to bring up his fifth wicket, the 25-year-old mopped up the tail in the final session.
His first wicket came when he bowled Ravindra for 65 to break a 59-run fourth-wicket stand with Daryl Mitchell as New Zealand collapsed from 197-3.
“I wanted to be very accurate no matter what situation I was bowling or which batsman I was coming coming across. It was God’s plan, just came through really well. I just focused to hit the particular areas, changed my pace here and there, just really grateful,” added the all-rounder.
“We genuinely felt it will start spinning from day one. It did spin in the first session but don’t think it did a lot in the second. The pitch settled down from the third session, but eventually it did spin,” he said on the pitch.
When pressed to choose his favourite wickey, Sundar found it tough. “Unfair for me to choose one. Certainly Rachin Ravindra because he was batting well. Daryl Mitchell’s wicket as well was game changer,” he concluded.
India were 16/1 at close of play, losing captain Rohit Sharma for a nine-ball duck to a Tim Southee delivery that shaped away and crashed into the off-stump via the pad.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, on six, and Shubman Gill, on 10, were batting with the hosts trailing by 243 runs.