Pune: After winning the toss, New Zealand had batted well in the first two sessions and reached 197/3 on Day 1 of the second Test against India. But to the trained eye, the scoreboard at that moment belied the true nature of the field. Bare and tailor-made for the spinners, the numbers looked too good for the batting side.

On such tracks, one wicket can often lead to several. The experts knew it was only a matter of time before things started to unfold at a rapid pace.

But all eyes were on senior pros R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to make things happen. Washington Sundar, the third spinner in the attack, was expected to dry up the runs and attack the experienced duo from the other end.

When Ashwin took the first three wickets, he looked like he had put Bengaluru’s sluggishness behind him. But despite bowling well, it was another off-spinner who stole the show.

The game went as expected, wickets fell in a cluster, NZ lost their last seven wickets for just 62 runs, but the hero of the day was a man who wasn’t even in the original squad for the series. The Kiwis simply didn’t see Washington coming. Perhaps, as the team management expected, no one did.

The young all-rounder’s first 13 overs were flat and tidy, but there wasn’t much more to say. With Rachin Ravindra, India’s tormentor in the first Test, well entrenched on 65, captain Rohit Sharma decided to bring Washington over from Pavilion End.

It was a game-changing decision. On the first ball after the change, the New Zealand left-hander got behind the line and offered a forward defense, but the ball drifted in and turned just enough to turn past the blade and hit the off-stump. Like magic.

“Absolutely, it was a dream ball to be honest. I just wanted to keep hitting the right areas today because we expected something to offer (for the spinners). That was the only thought on my mind and obviously that kind of thing means a lot when it happens. It’s magical,” Washington said after his most rewarding day of bowling.

It was the beginning of the end of New Zealand’s innings. In an unchanged spell of 10.1 overs, he picked up another six wickets to run through the tourists’ line-up. From 197/1973 onwards New Zealand collapsed to 259 all out. His third spell read an incredible 10.1-1-28-7. As if to illustrate his strengths, five of Washington’s victims were bowled, one lbw and one caught.

Had the New Zealand team not defeated India in Bengaluru, Washington would have been preparing for Tamil Nadu’s next Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh. Including him in the squad was an inspired decision. The all-rounder showed confidence with a seven-wicket haul, his best figures in first-class cricket, comparable to Ashwin’s 7/59. For the first time in Indian Test history, all 10 wickets were claimed by off-spinners.

The all-rounder spoke about how special the last four days have been for him, saying: “Everything that happened today was pleasant. Right from the start, getting to play this game, getting to make a comeback in the Test side, getting to play in the XI. There are many things I can say that mean a lot to me and are very special. I’m really grateful for the day. I don’t think I will ever forget this day, but yes, it was a great opportunity for me to play the Tamil Nadu-Delhi (Ranji Trophy) game. It is good to play red ball every now and then and keep up the rhythm in red ball, both with the bat and the ball, and be consistent with it. And I think the fact that I got to bowl a lot of overs in that game definitely helped.”

Washington had last played a Test for India in March 2021, but two days before the match, the team management informed him that he would be in the playing XI. It was the confidence boost that the youngster from Tamil Nadu needed.

Of the adjustment during his third period, Washington said: “Obviously the ball got really soft. So we had to give more speed to the ball, more body to the ball. That was something me and Ash (R Aswhin) kept talking about. That’s how he got (Devon) Conway out too. So we talked about it and were happy that I could do it.”

When New Zealand’s last wicket fell, dark clouds had already formed over the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium and India faced a tough 40 minutes of play. For the second time in the series, the New Zealand pacers now had favorable conditions to bowl in. Tim Southee, who has made a career of exploiting such conditions, produced the perfect outswinger to open up India captain Rohit Sharma and hit the off-stump. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal survived the remaining overs as India were 16/1 at the close of the stumps.