Ever since India announced their eleventh player for the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune, fans and pundits have been debating the changes made. Rohit Sharma and opted to go with Shubman Gill, Akash Deep and Washington Sundar instead of KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav. While several players debated whether picking Washington was the right move, the off-spinner proved his naysayers wrong as he produced possibly the ball of the match so far to gain the upper hand over Rachin Ravindra .

Washington Sundar produced an absolute ripper, and only this kind of delivery could have gotten the better of Rachin, who didn’t seem to be doing anything wrong until then.

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

The delivery then turned sharply. The left-handed Ravindra tried to get forward but he could not cover the front foot. As a result, he found himself squared off and the ball clipped the stump, ending his 65-run knock. Washington was visibly elated as he jumped into the air in celebration. Ian Smith, commentating at the time, said: “Sundar produces a stunner of ball to dismiss New Zealand’s best batsman.”

BCCI’s official handle also shared the video of the dismissal and said, “WOOD. Stunner of a ball. Washington Sundar with a breakthrough.”

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

Besides Rachin Ravindra, Washington Sundar also sacked Tom Blundell. The off-spinner bowled the Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman through the fence.

After Blundell was sacked, Ian Smith said on air: “Selectors would be pleased, a lot of people wondered if it was the right move to bring in Sundar, instead of Kuldeep it turns out to be the right move.”

Earlier, players like Anil Kumble and Sunil Gavaskar had questioned the decision to bring in Washington in place of Kuldeep. However, Sanjay Manjrekar had an unpopular opinion when he defended picking Sundar first in the line-up.

During the tea session, Anil Kumble said, “There are no demons on the field but it definitely helps the spinners. The ball has done something, it has spun and bounced, it has not kept the batter comfortable. There is enough for the spinners.”

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

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