Ravindra Jadeja overtook fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan to become the fifth-highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket on Day 1 of the third Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, November 1.
Jadeja came into the encounter after taking just six wickets in the previous two matches. However, the spin-bowling all-rounder used the conditions to his advantage and spun a web around the New Zealand batters with his relentless consistency and guile.
Ishant and Zaheer have 311 wickets to their name after playing 188 and 165 innings respectively. The Saurashtra cricketer had 309 wickets to his name from 144 innings heading into the third Test. He took the wickets of Will Young and Tom Blundell in the 45th over to equal Ishant and Zaheer’s tally. Jadeja went past the veterans when he took the wicket of Glenn Phillips in the 53rd over.
The 35-year-old is only behind Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kapil Dev, and Harbhajan Singh on the list of Indian bowlers with the most number of wickets in the longest format of the game.
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Ravindra Jadeja’s five-for rolls over New Zealand for 235
Tom Latham won the toss earlier in the day and opted to bat first on the red soil pitch at the Wankhede Stadium. New Zealand got themselves into a steady position at 159/3 but Jadeja and Washington Sundar bowled really well to bring India back into the game.
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Daryl Mitchell scored a gritty 82 off 129 balls, battling the hot and humid conditions at the iconic venue. His knock helped the tourists get past the 200-run mark. Jadeja picked up the wickets of Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry in the same over to register his 14th five-for in Test cricket. Washington finished proceedings by dismissing Ajaz Patel as New Zealand were bowled out for 235 in the third session. Washington finished with figures of 4/81, complementing Jadeja’s remarkable spell of 5/65.