Washinton Sundar bowled 5 no-balls against New Zealand© BCCI/Sportzpics
The Day 1 of the Mumbai Test between India and New Zealand was quite eventful, with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar picking the bulk of the wickets between them. The duo combined to grab 9 wickets in the innings as the Kiwis were bowled out for 235 runs. While Sundar continued from where he left in the Pune Test, there was one aspect of his bowling that left India great Sunil Gavaskar quite disappointed. During commentary on the opening day at the Wankhede Stadium, former India coach Ravi Shastri revealed that Gavaskar smashed his plate while having lunch after seeing Sundar repeatedly bowl no-balls.
“Sunil Gavaskar was having lunch. He smashed the plate on the wall,” said Shastri in a cheeky way on-air. “Thank god he’s not fielding in the slip. Washington would have been close to Washington DC.”
It isn’t common for spinners to bowl as many no-balls in a match. Hence, whenever Sundar overstepped, former New Zealand cricketer Ian Smith also joined Shastri and unleashed a Gavaskar-pun for the bowler.
“Oh dear. Another no-ball. Where is Sunny G? He is going to run after them with a mic in hand.”
Gavaskar also channeled his inner comic and said, “Yeah, don’t worry. I have my running shoes on. But on a serious note, it’s something that needs to be looked at.”
“With a fast bowler, it is understandable, that the momentum of the body can sometimes take your foot over the line. But spinners? Players keep saying that there are things that are not under our control. Well, this is one thing under control, so might as well, be cautious,” he added.
Despite the repeated no-ball issue, Jadeja and Sundar combined to put India in the driving seat with the ball. However, the batting unit once again hit the self-destruct button, with the hosts losing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal and nightwatchman Mohammed Siraj before stumps.
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