NEW DELHI: The first day of the third and final Test between India and New Zealand in Mumbai saw Ravi Shastri at his wittiest best during the commentary after Indian bowlers racked up quite a number of no balls in the opening session itself.
The Indian bowling unit managed to secure early breakthroughs, yet their performance was marred by several no-ball infractions at the Wankhede Stadium.
Off-spinner Washington Sundar claimed two dismissals, following Akash Deep‘s initial breakthrough in the first session. The visiting team reached 92 runs for the loss of three wickets at lunch break.
The Indian bowlers struggled with their front foot placement with Sundar being responsible for delivering five no-balls, while Jadeja and Akash contributed three more taking the number to eight by the middle of the second session.
Soon after lunch, when Sundar committed his fifth no-ball infraction and triggered the Wankhede’s warning system, Shastri commented on air about Sunil Gavaskar’s likely reaction to this bowling indiscipline.
“Sunil Gavaskar was having lunch. He chucked the plate on the wall,” Shastri quipped before saying, “Thank god he’s (Gavaskar) not fielding in the slip otherwise Washington would have been close to Washington DC.”
Gavaskar, who became the first cricketer to score 10,000 Test runs, has consistently expressed concerns about no-balls in cricket.
Earlier, New Zealand opted to bat first after winning the toss in a bid to sweep the series.
