Despite Ajaz Patel making history at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the second day of the second Test, Team India had a great show as they bundled New Zealand for just 62 runs. And, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra praised Indian skipper Virat Kohli alongside Mohammed Siraj for the performance.
Notably, Siraj led India’s bowling with a fiery new-ball spell where he removed New Zealand’s top three quickly before the veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took four scalps to help India take a huge lead of 263 in the first innings.
Latham, who had scored a half-century in both innings of the first Test in Kanpur, got out to a short-ball from Siraj with Shreyas Iyer taking a stunning catch near the boundary line. And, Aakash Chopra applauded Indian skipper Virat Kohli alongside Siraj for the wicket. Chopra stated that the team evidently missed Kohli’s captaincy in the first Test.
Talking on Star Sports, Chopra said, “That is where I missed Virat Kohli, the captain. Mohammed Siraj set Tom Latham up brilliantly, and it’s not only the wicket of the bowler. Kohli played a role in it.”
He further added:
“In the last Test, we didn’t see a single bouncer against Tom Latham. With Siraj, you can expect short-pitched bowls more often than not. So he bowled short and they had the leg-side trap ready for Latham. It was a good wicket and wonderful captaincy.”
Notably, Virat Kohli had missed the Kanpur Test as well as the three-match T20I series against New Zealand.
India ended the day’s game at 69-0 with openers Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal unbeaten on the crease as well. Although the spinners did the main damage, Mohammed Siraj earned a lot of praise for his stunning spell. His delivery to uproot Ross Taylor’s stumps was amazing but the speedster’s clever tactics against Tom Latham was equally praiseworthy.
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