India vs New Zealand Live Score 3rd Test, Day 1: IND, NZ reeling in Mumbai heat

India vs New Zealand Live Score 3rd Test, Day 1: Washington Sundar picked two wickets in the first session

It has been 20 years since India came into a Test match of a home series having already lost it and incidentally, that was at the Wankhede Stadium as well. That was the fourth Test against Australia, with the visitors having already won the first and third matches of the series. India produced a rank turner at the time, resulting in the match lasting just three days and the hosts winning by 13 runs.

If reports are to be believed, there will be a rank turner at the Wankhede Stadium for the third Test between India and New Zealand as well, despite the fact that the hosts had lost the second match in Pune on a turning track as well. The home team management has asked the Mumbai Cricket Association to prepare a pitch that will “help spinners from Day 1”. The presence of red soil will aid sufficient bounce in addition to the spin. The pitch in Pune, on the other hand, was a slow turner.

What was different about the previous instances of India losing a Test at home due to a batting failure against spin bowling compared to what happened in Pune was that their premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were outbowled by the ones playing for the opposition. Both Jadeja and Ashwin have enjoyed success at the Wankhede Stadium. In five Tests, Ashwin has picked up 38 wickets at 18.42, the highest tally by any bowler on this ground. In his only game, Ravindra Jadeja managed six wickets too.

The last time India lost all of their matches in a Test series at home was in February 2000 when South Africa blanked them 2-0. India’s defeat in the first Test in the current series marked the first time they had lost to New Zealand at home in the format since 1988. Their loss in the second marked the first time ever that they had lost a Test series at home to New Zealand . It also ended a record 18-winning match streak at home. The first Test had conditions that were much closer to home for the Kiwis, with the visitors using only pacers in India’s first innings and bowling them out for a record low of 46 runs. Furthermore, India staged an extraordinary comeback in the second innings as well.

The loss in the second Test, followed by Rohit’s comments in the post-match press conference, did bring in some proper brickbats for India. Those were supposedly conditions that India thrived in. However, Washington Sundar’s seven-wicket haul was matched and surpassed by Mitchell Santner while their batters seemed to have no answer to the Kiwi spinners other than trying to hit them out.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir, whose tenure has been rated with a loss in his first Test series, reiterated that India needs to be an adaptable batting side. “We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That’s what growth is and that’s what test cricket is all about, “Gambir told reporters on Thursday.

“Test cricket can’t be played in a single manner because it’s about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it’s about playing sessions. If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we’ll have a lot of runs on the board,” said Gambhir.

Highlights from India vs New Zealand 3rd Test Day 1:

– New Zealand were 92/3 in 27 overs at Lunch

– Washington Sundar got the wickets of Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra

– Akash Deep got an early breakthrough for the hosts, dismissed Devon Conway in the 4th over

– India have rested Jasprit Bumrah

– New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first

– India have already lost the series but are now looking to avoid a rare whitewash at home

– India have been whitewashed at home just once in Test history and that was a 2-0 defeat against South Africa in 2000