Sarfaraz Khan gets in the face of Rachin Ravindra after Washington Sundar gets two NZ wickets with identical dream deliveries

All-rounder Washington Sundar picked up where he left off in Pune, picking up two crucial wickets for India against New Zealand in the third and final Test on Friday at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Sundar dismissed the in-form Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra with identical dream deliveries, came around the wicket and bowled the two New Zealand batsmen by beating their defense comprehensively. Sundar was predictably within his rights to be animated after his first wicket – off in celebration, but nobody knows why Sarfaraz Khan got carried away.

Sundar, coming off a match haul of 11 wickets, sprung into action and picked two of the three New Zealand wickets to fall. After Akash Deep gave India the opening breakthrough in the form of Devon Conway, Sundar got the better of Latham and Rachin. More importantly, it’s the manner in which those firings take the cake. Latham charged forward in defence, only to be beaten by the rip. The ball hit just outside off, held its line and crashed onto the stumps. Four overs later, Ctrl C, Ctrl V.

But what was interesting to watch was Sarfaraz’s reaction after Ravindra was dismissed. Sarfaraz stood at short leg and got Ravindra in the face to celebrate the wicket. This was not the only time Sarfaraz’s tactics were questionable. A few overs later, young India’s constant chirping left Daryl Mitchell needing an intervention from captain Rohit Sharma.

How the match has gone so far

India have started the Mumbai Test well. In a bid to prevent a 0-3 whitewash which, if achieved, would have handed India their first clean-sweep in a home Test series since the year 2000, India bowled out New Zealand at 92/3. After Latham won the toss and elected to bat, Akash Deep wasted no time and caught Conway out LBW to give India an early wicket. Latham and Will Young added 44 runs for the second wicket before Sundar started to do his thing.

India made one change to their Playing XI, bringing back Mohammed Siraj for the ill Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian pacer, who flew home to Ahmedabad with India because he was unwell, is yet to recover from a ‘viral illness’, the BCCI revealed moments after the toss. The news comes a day after Bumrah became Mumbai Indians’ costliest retention among all five players. Siraj and Akash Deep had limited role to play as the pitch was already starting to turn, Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin bowling 17 overs between them at one stage.

But while the morning session belonged to India, New Zealand bounced back in the match with Daryl Mitchell and Young adding a much-needed 87-run partnership. As New Zealand went past the 150-run mark, beating Mumbai’s grueling heat, Ravindra Jadeja brought India back into the game, first dismissing Young for a well-made 71 and then cleaning up Tom Blundell for a duck.

New Zealand’s runs between the wickets were hugely hampered, with the batsmen settling for singles as doubles were readily available in comparatively easier conditions. Such is the level of heat and humidity at Wankhede. The sea breeze that usually provides respite during the afternoon has disappeared. Washington Sundar ran out of T-shirts and ended up having to wear Dhruv Jurel’s jersey and two sweatbands on his wrists.