Rohit Sharma (Source: X/Twitter)
Mitchell Santner built on his seven-for in India’s first innings as he gave New Zealand the initial breakthrough on Day 3 by dismissing Rohit Sharma. This was a major setback for the Asian giants in the ongoing second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday, October 26.
Facing an uphill task of chasing down a 359-run target on a tough batting surface, India needed their opening batters to set up a solid base. While Yashasvi Jaiswal batted with positive intent from the get-go, Rohit tried to get himself set at the crease. However, Santner needed just four balls to get rid of the Indian captain for an eight-run knockoff 16 balls.
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Rohit defended the first delivery he faced from Santner from the crease. He stepped out on the following delivery and blocked it to short cover. The third ball saw Rohit attempting a reverse sweep, which went to the boundary after deflecting off the back thigh pad. On the fourth delivery, the Mumbai batter danced down the track but didn’t get to the pitch of the ball as Santner dropped it short. The length ball bounced more than expected and the batter only managed to get an inside edge onto the front pad and it lobbed to short leg where Will Young took the easiest of catches.
Legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble pointed out that Santner releases the ball at the last moment and that gave him the chance to spot Rohit’s movement down the crease. The former India coach feels that Santner changed his length to outfox Rohit and his plan worked wonders.
“He played the reverse sweep and he also stepped out. He used all the options, unfortunately for him it was seen by Santner early and then he bowled it slightly shorter and then it bounced to Rohit Sharma,” said Kumble on Sports18.
“I thought the intent was right but of course, it was well bowled by Santner. We should also give credit to Santner because he saw him coming The one advantage that Santner has is he releases the ball really late and that probably helped him in seeing Rohit come at him and drop length a little bit,” he added.
Mitchell Santner bags another five for
Santner went from strength to strength after picking up Rohit’s wicket. Jaiswal and Shubman Gill added 62 runs off 59 balls to put the Kiwis under a bit of pressure but the left-arm spinner broke the partnership at the right time for the tourists.
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Wickets kept on tumbling for the home side as Santner accounted for the wickets of Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, and Sarfaraz Khan to complete his five-for. The Hamilton-born also contributed with his fielding, orchestrating the run out of Rishabh Pant with a fabulous show of agility.