During the two ongoing Test matches between India and New Zealand at Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) stadium and the third Pakistan-England Test at Rawalpindi, the domination of spin on the opening days has stood out, with the tweakers established new records, milestones and memories from "Pindi to Pune". In the second Test between the Kiwis and India, the Indian team chose a combination of three frontline spinners in Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin on what was a spin-friendly surface, with all three having exceptional quality in their batting as well when in full flow.
The move to include Washington, playing his first Test in over three years since that iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy sealing win at The Gabba in Brisbane against Australia in January 2021, raised questions as he was picked over a much more accomplished and senior as a spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, who has had to sit out often during Test matches due to Ashwin-Jadeja's abilities as batters.
When Kiwis were 197/3, with Rachin Ravindra looking set for another century and only Ravichandran Ashwin having made some notable, but not-so-impacful dents in Kiwis' innings, a lot was being said about Kuldeep's absence from the field. However, Washington, who had bowled tightly so far, responded to the chatter in the most dominating way possible, taking the next seven wickets with his masterful movement with the ball. He triggered Kiwis' collapse from 197/3 to 259 all out in the first innings.
Washington went on to register his career-best Test figures and his maiden Test fifer. He and Ashwin, two Tamil Nadu stars, teamed up to take all ten Kiwi wickets on day one, making it only sixth instance of spinners getting all the ten wickets
cricket
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
Pakistan Cricket Team
New Zealand Cricket Team
Kuldeep Yadav