IND vs NZ: Ravindra Jadeja reflects on impressive Day 1, says 'it's always special to take five wickets'

It was an impressive Day 1 at the office for India’s Ravindra Jadeja as he bagged yet another five-wicket haul in the ongoing third Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai. Playing on Friday (Nov 1) on Day 1, Jadeja ended with figures of 65/5 helping India bowl out New Zealand for 235 in their first innings. According to Jadeja getting a five-fer in Test match cricket is always special.

Jadeja reflects on impressive Day 1

“Taking a fifer for India in Tests, it's always special. Felt good that I helped my team in getting breakthroughs. It wasn't easy bowl in the heat, Washington bowled well and everyone played their roles. As a batting unit, we need a collective effort. (On overtaking Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma) I didn't know that,” Jadeja said in the post-day while speaking to the broadcasters.

Having opted to bat first after winning the toss, New Zealand lost Devon Conway (4) in the fourth over of the opening session as Akash Deep scalped him. After a steady start, Skipper Tom Latham (28) and Rachin Ravindra (5) departed in quick succession as the visitors were 72/3. Will Young (71) and Daryl Mitchell (82) then stitched an 87-run stand for the fourth wicket before the former was caught by Rohit Sharma on Jadeja’s bowling.

Jadeja on fire

Jadeja would then start his dominance with the ball as he added Ish Sodhi (7), Matt Henry (0), Glenn Phillips (17) and Tom Blundell (0) to his list of wickets to complete another five-for. Washington Sundar on the other hand was also on song as he bagged figures of 81/4.

ALSO READ |Australia-A vs India-A: Mukesh Kumar, Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal script comeback, Easwaran fails

New Zealand lost their last seven wickets for 76 runs as they collapsed with the bat before getting bowled out for 235 in the final session of the day.

India ended the day on 86/4, with skipper Rohit Sharma yet again disappointing as he scored 18 in the first innings of the Mumbai Test. Yashasvi Jaiswal (30), Virat Kohli (4) and night watchman Mohammed Siraj (0) also failed to make any impression as the batting unit once again collapsed. Ajaz Patel grabbed two wickets while Virat was runout in the final stretch of Day 1. India still trail by 149 runs and will have a huge task in hand to avoid a huge series defeat before the Australia tour.