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Indian wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and New Zealand’s veteran Daryl Mitchell got the rewards of strong performances during the third Test in Mumbai as the two players have climbed to top 10 in latest ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday. After impressive half-centuries during the Test, Pant has climbed five spots to claim the sixth position in the Test Batter Rankings. This rise brings him close to his career-best ranking of fifth, which he last held in July 2022. Mitchell has also seen a substantial rise, climbing eight places to reach seventh overall after a first-inning score of 82 in Mumbai. He now joined his fellow New Zealander Kane Williamson, who holds the second position.

England’s Joe Root maintained a comfortable lead at the top of the Test batter chart, followed by Williamson, Harry Brook (third), Yashasvi Jaiswal (fourth), and Steve Smith (fifth). India’s Shubman Gill has also made strides, moving up four places to 16th after his 90-run effort in the first innings against New Zealand.

Player of the Series Will Young, who was instrumental in New Zealand’s success, shot up 29 places to reach 44th overall.

In the bowling department, India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja surged two spots to claim sixth position following a stunning 10-wicket haul against New Zealand. His teammate Washington Sundar also made gains, advancing seven spots to 46th among Test bowlers.

New Zealand’s spin attack similarly saw rewards. Ajaz Patel climbed 12 places to 22nd, while Ish Sodhi improved by three rungs, reaching equal 70th.

Meanwhile, South African spinner Keshav Maharaj rose four places to reach 19th, bolstered by his impressive 13-wicket haul against Bangladesh in South Africa’s recent series victory.

The latest ODI rankings also feature considerable movement. West Indies captain Shai Hope has moved up five places to 12th among ODI batters, following his 17th ODI century in the second match against England. England’s Liam Livingstone saw a significant rise, moving up 32 spots to 58th after his century in the same clash.

Pace bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Mitchell Starc made strides on the ODI Bowler Rankings. He moved up three spots to claim fourth, while Starc climbed four places to 14th following their opening performances in Australia’s ODI series against Pakistan.

Scotland’s Brandon McMullen also saw an improvement in the ODI all-rounder category, advancing three spots to reach sixth.

Not only did Ravichandran Ashwin return to form with the ball, he also set the fielding standards on Day 2 of the third Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. With Daryl Mitchell and Will Young stitching up a 50-run partnership, a moment of magic was needed to break it. That moment of magic was provided by Ashwin. Not reputed for being lightning quick in the outfield, Ashwin completed a tremendous catch, running back from mid-on.

Mitchell had skied a delivery by Ravindra Jadeja, but a catch would’ve been difficult for Ashwin who would have to run back from mid-on and then put in a diving effort. But that is exactly what he did.

Watch: Fan angle of Ashwin’s sensational catch to dismiss Daryl Mitchell

What a catch by Ashwin #INDvsNZ @NorthStandGang pic.twitter.com/clE151nCEo

— Nishant Jhangiani (@NishantJhangian) November 2, 2024

The catch was called by several X users as the greatest catch of Ashwin’s career.

THE GREATEST CATCH OF ASHWIN’s CAREER

Wankhede erupts like crazy!!!#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/Vs05vBxTaa

— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) November 2, 2024

R Ashwin Anna takes a screamer! The best catch of his career #INDvNZ #INDvsNZ #CricketTwitter

pic.twitter.com/L0MLRia7Cu

— Himanshu (@himanshux_) November 2, 2024

“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 and I’ve got great hands, so I trusted my hands to go through with it,” said Ashwin, speaking about the match after Stumps on Day 2.

Even at the age of 38, Ashwin ran back a significant amount and then took it with a spectacular diving effort, drawing the applause of a passionate Wankhede crowd.

That wicket triggered New Zealand’s collapse in the second innings, as they then went on to lose their next five wickets for just 77 runs.

From 94/3, New Zealand ended Day 2 firmly on the backfoot at 171/9, with a lead of only 143. Ravindra Jadeja picked up four wickets, taking his match haul to nine, while Ashwin took three wickets of his own.

A memorable moment during Ashwin’s spell was his wicket of Glenn Phillips. The New Zealand all-rounder had slammed Ashwin for two sixes in the first three balls of an over. However, Ashwin knocked off his stumps in that very over, as Phillips was left bamboozled by Ashwin’s carrom ball.

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell on Friday said the third Test against India was “evenly poised” despite the hosts’ collapsed, handing the advantage to the Kiwis after the opening day’s play of the final match of the series here. India did well to keep New Zealand to 235 after the visitors won the toss with Mitchell top-scoring with 82, but the hosts lost wickets in heap towards the end to be placed at a precarious position of 86 for four, trailing by another 149 runs.

“We put a total on the board (and) hopefully now we can take a few more wickets. We’ll see what happens tomorrow (day two). The game is evenly poised right at the moment,” Mitchell told the media after end of play on Friday.

Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja (5/65) and Washington Sundar (4/81) shared nine wickets between them on the first day as the pitch provided plenty of assistance to the tweakers.

Mitchell said the conditions did not surprise the visitors.

“It’s the nature of red soil here in this part of the world. It’s going to have a bit of bounce and a little bit of turn. We knew what we were expecting when we showed up this morning,” he said.

Mitchell expressed pride on New Zealand’s performance as the Kiwis moved closer to beating India 3-0 and becoming the first visiting team to do so.

“It was pretty warm out there. The humidity was pretty sticky and there wasn’t a lot of breeze. Us Kiwis, coming from down in the middle of winter back home, it’s always a good challenge,” he said.

“We’re just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world, having fun and trying to win games for our country. Hopefully, we can just keep chipping away like Kiwis do and we’ll see what happens over the next few days,” he said.

Mitchell said India were in strong position when Shubman Gill (31 not out) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (30) were batting.

Jaiswal and Gill put on 53 for the second wicket before the former’s dismissal while attempting a reverse sweep sparked the collapse.

“That’s the nature of Test cricket. There’s always ebbs and flows throughout days. We were lucky to build some pressure. There was a nice partnership going there between Shubman and Jaiswal. I thought they played really well,” he said.

 All-rounder Washington Sundar stole the show on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand with career-best bowling figures of 7-59 to bundle out visitors for 259 on Thursday. Sundar, who was added to India’s squad for the remainder of the series on Sunday, replaced Kuldeep Yadav and went on to prove his mettle in the game. Last match’s centurion Rachin Ravindra (65) became his first scalp of the day as Sundar broke his fourth wicket partnership with Daryl Mitchell before unleashing his spin brilliance.

Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged the first three wickets of the day as Sundar went on to snare the remaining seven wickets for India. Sundar credited his adjustments to length and pace for the achievement.

“I wanted to be very accurate no matter what situation I was bowling or which batsman I was coming across. It was God’s plan, just came through really well. I just focused on hitting the particular areas, changed my pace here and there, just really grateful,” he told broadcasters after the end of the day’s play.

Sundar revealed the side thought of getting turn from the pitch from the first day itself which eventually did. “We genuinely felt it will start spinning from day one. It did spin in the first session but don’t think it did a lot in the second. The pitch settled down from the third session, but eventually, it did spin,” the Tamil Nadu all-rounder said.

The 25-year-old expressed his excitement on getting a chance to play for India after not being part of the opening Test in Bengaluru.

“The way it came through, fact that I wasn’t part of the first Test and I was called for this particular Test and given the opportunity to play in the XI, I was really grateful to the coach and captain. Unbelievable feeling,” Sundar said.

When asked about his favourite wicket of the day, the spinner picked the dismissals of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell which shifted the momentum in India’s favour.

“Unfair for me to choose one. Certainly, Rachin Ravindra because he was batting well. Daryl Mitchell’s wicket, as well, was game changer,” he said.

India lost captain Rohit Sharma cheaply after Tim Southee got him on a duck. Yashasvi Jaiswal (6 not out) and Shubman Gill (10 not out) will continue India’s score from 16/1 on Friday. The hosts are currently trailing by 243 runs.

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