Mumbai boy Ajaz Patel is spinning his web at Wankhede all around the Indian top order, took 3 huge wickets after India got a well made 80-run opening stand. After a delayed start due to wet outfield, Indian openers came out to bat in the 2nd session as there was no play possible in the morning session.
Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal showed great character to start the proceedings in the first two hours as they took the scoreboard to a commendable score of 80 without a loss before Ajaz Patel showed his spin of brilliance to rattle the Indian top order and in no time, Indians were struggling at 80 for 3 as Patel got better of Gill on 44 and quickly removed both Pujara and captain Kohli on 0 with beauties.
Taking on the pitch, which seems to be assisting more to spinners due to the hot and humid atmosphere around as the game goes on, Latham made good use of the left-arm orthodox who’s creating some serious problems for all right-handed Indian batting line-up, allowing Patel to create a gripping angle and even getting a good bounce from the pitch as well.
Captain Virat Kohli who was making a comeback after taking a rest in the 1st test at Kanpur and was keen to go big, considering his stats at Wankhede was dismissed on the 4th ball he faced. His dismissal meanwhile was a bit of a talking point as he was declared out by the third umpire on the verge of the on-field decision of ‘out’, considering no conclusive evidence of bat involved before it brushed the pad. Both Pujara and Kohli were under immense pressure as they’re lacking the runs from the past few months and the Indian middle-order needed some magical scoring from their no. 3 and no. 4 but it didn’t come out as expected, even though it looked worse to see both of them getting dismissed without adding a single run to the scoreboard.
Agarwal, however, is looking quite promising out there and has done a remarkable job to reach a well made century, 4th of his test career and continues to attack spinners even though India lost local boy Shreyas Iyer as well, thanks again to Ajaz who got his 4th of the day. Agarwal is trying his best to unsettle the kiwi bowlers, hitting boundaries at regular intervals.
