Ever since India announced their starting lineup for the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) stadium in Pune, fans and experts have been discussing the changes made. Rohit Sharma and Co. opted for Shubman Gill, Akash Deep and Washington Sundar instead of KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. While many debated whether opting for Washington was the right move, the off-spinner proved his doubters wrong as he produced perhaps the ball of the game so far to defeat Rachin Ravindra.

Washington Sundar produced an absolute hit and only this type of delivery could have defeated Rachin, who seemed to have done nothing wrong up to that point.

While bowling around the wicket, Sundar managed to let the ball drift in.

The delivery then turned sharply. The left-handed Ravindra tried to come forward but couldn’t cover it with his front foot. As a result, he got into the right position and the ball hit the off-stump, ending his 65-run knock. Washington was visibly thrilled as he jumped into the air in celebration. Ian Smith, who was commentating at the time, said: “Sundar bowls a great ball to dismiss New Zealand’s best batsman.”

The BCCI official handle also shared the video of the dismissal with the words, “WOOD. The blast. Washington Sundar with a breakthrough.”

Ian Smith says bringing in Washington Sundar proved to be the right move

Apart from Rachin Ravindra, Washington Sundar also sacked Tom Blundell. The off-spinner bowled the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter through the gate.

After Blundell was sacked, Ian Smith said on air: “The voters would be happy, a lot of people asked if it was the right move to bring in Sundar instead of Kuldeep, it’s proving to be the right move.”

Earlier, the likes of Anil Kumble and Sunil Gavaskar had questioned the move to field Washington in place of Kuldeep. However, Sanjay Manjrekar expressed an unpopular opinion when he advocated for Sundar to be placed at the top of the line-up.

During tea time, Anil Kumble said, “There are no demons on the field but it definitely helps the spinners.” The ball did something, it spun and bounced, it made the batsman feel uncomfortable. There’s enough for the weirdos.”

Talking about the ongoing Test, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. The Kiwis made one change, bringing in Mitchell Santner in place of the injured Matt Henry.

Earlier, New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets in the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.