India were denied victory by 1 wicket as Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel managed to survive the last 52 balls of the match in a turning track against three quality spinners.
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Australian cricket legend Shane Warne questioned India’s tactics on Day 5 of the first test match between India and New Zealand in Kanpur after the match ended in a nail-biting draw. India fell short of victory by 1 wicket as Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel managed to survive the last 52 balls of the match before the umpire Nitin Menon called off the play due to fading light. Warne was surprised to see that India didn’t take the new ball straight away when it was available after the 81st over, instead continuing to bowl for the next four overs before opting to take the new one in the 85th over.
“Very surprised India didn’t take the new ball when it was available !!!! Strange they are still bowling with the old ball as light and overs running out !!!!!! Thoughts?,” Warne tweeted.
He later added another tweet saying: “Will the 4 overs bowled with the old ball when the new ball was available be a turning point and allowed NZ to hang on or it won’t matter and India win ???”
India made 234 for the loss of 7 wickets in the second innings before declaring and setting a target of 284 for New Zealand to chase. In response, the Kiwis didn’t have a great start as opener Will Young was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin for just 2. However, Tom Latham and Will Somerville steadied the ship with a 76 run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Umesh Yadav for 36.
Latham who scored a match saving 52 off 146 deliveries was sent back to the pavilion by Ashwin. After Kane Williamson’s dismissal, the Kiwi batting collapsed as they lost 6 wickets for just 66 runs.
However, No. 8 batsman Rachin and the last man Patel fought hard to earn a draw batting against three quality spinners. Ravindra Jadeja took 4 for 40 while Aswin finished with 3 for 35 and Axar Patel took 1 wicket.
It was a sensational performance from Rachin and Patel on a turning track against probably the best spin bowlers in world cricket and rightly deserved the praise from their captain Williamson.
“Rachin in his first Test match and Ajaz as well showed a lot of character to bat those few overs there against high-quality, world class spin as the light was dimming,” Williamson said after the match
The two teams will now head to Mumbai where they will play the second and final test match at the Wankhede stadium from December 3.
