MUMBAI: Seasoned spinner Ravindra Jadeja leapfrogged the iconic pace duo Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma to become India’s fifth-highest wicket-taker in the Test format.
On a topsy-turvy opening day of the third Test against New Zealand, where momentum kept swinging like a pendulum, Jadeja’s class was a constant theme.
With a five-star performance, Jadeja picked up a five-wicket haul while giving away 65 runs in his 22-over spell and maintaining his economy at 3.00.
Following his influential spell that left New Zealand clueless, Jadeja breezed past Zaheer and Ishant in the list of India’s leading wicket-takers in Test cricket.
Following his heroics at Wankhede, Jadeja has 314 scalps to his name in the longest format of the cricket. Before the third Test, Zaheer and Ishant stood ahead of him with 311 wickets each that they bagged during their memorable career.
India’s decorated spinner Anil Kumble still holds the record for India’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket with a whopping tally of 619 scalps.
Just like Ishant and Zaheer dictated the flow of the game, Jadeja’s spell was the point where the momentum shifted in India’s favour.
With Will Young and Daryl Mitchell growing from strength to strength in the second session, India looked out of their wits with each passing over.
But it was Jadeja in the 45th over that turned out to be the one where India got their reward for the patience that they had exhibited throughout the gruelling 87-run partnership.
On the second ball of the over, New Zealand’s resistance finally gave away when Jadeja spun the ball away from Young to force out a healthy edge. India skipper Rohit Sharma made no mistake at the slip, which brought an end to Young’s solid 71(138).
The puff of dust that arose whenever the ball landed on the pitch was an indicator of things beginning to change. Two balls later, Tom Blundell was left clueless in front of a ripper from Jadeja.
A flat trajectory and a puff of dust, when the ball landed, was enough to leave Blundell bamboozled and hit the off-stump with a remarkable turn.
Jadeja continued to haunt New Zealand by toying with their expectations of dealing with the spinning deliveries.
Glenn Phillips leaned forward to defend the delivery, but the ball kept skidding rapidly. Despite Phillips going forward to negate the threat, the ball found enough space to slip past and crash into the stumps.
He went on to remove Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry both by pinning them in front of the stumps to end his memorable outing with the ball. (ANI)