With Team India going down for the first-time in a Test series at home in 12 years, they are back on the field hoping for a consolation win to keep their World Test Championships (WTC) Final hopes still alive. The Men in Blue are hosting New Zealand in the third and final Test of the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The third Test has been an exciting one as it has seen 29 wickets fall in the first two days, the most in the first two days at the Wankhede Stadium, bettering the previous record of 25 wickets which took place in 2000 during India versus South Africa Test match. Out of them, Ravichandran Ashwin’s sensational catch has been one of the talking points with the off-spinner going wicketless in the first New Zealand innings.
The brilliant fielding effort from Ashwin came in the 28th over when Ravindra Jadeja bowled to Daryl Mitchell, who had stitched a 50-plus runs partnership with Will Young. On the fifth delivery of Jadeja’s over, Mitchell opted for a lofted shot. However, the Kiwi batter was unable to get right connection with Ashwin completing a sensational catch, running back from mid-on.
Watch R Ashwin’s sensation backward-running catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell in 3rd Test:
The catch which came just at the right moment with both Kiwi batters looking in good touch, got fans talking of Ashwin’s fielding efforts. While some hailed it as “the greatest catch of Ashwin’s career”, a few others lauded the all-rounder’s efforts. Check out how fans reacted to it:
I trusted my hands to go through: R Ashwin after dismissing Daryl Mitchell
“I was just telling myself that it’s going to anyway leave me, I wanted to get as close to the ball as possible and I’ve got great hands, so I trusted my hands to go through with it,” Ashwin said after Day 2’s conclusion in Mumbai. The veteran all-rounder also opened up how he tried to mix up things during his three-wickets stint in the second innings after going wicketless in the first one.
“The game itself is divided into two halves. The one from the pavilion end and the other side, the wicket is responding very differently. It’s slightly flatter from the one where we are bowling from the dressing room side, the bounce is much lesser, so I thought I will try and use it the other way. The batters are also knowing that it’s easier to take me on from this side. So I wanted to give something different,” Ashwin further added.