India routs New Zealand in convincing fashion to bag the series

India made quick work of New Zealand on Day 4 as they scalped the remaining of the Kiwi side for a paltry 25 runs with Jayant Yadav ripping the tail apart in no time. India dictated the proceedings throughout the span of the contest with Ajaz Patel being the solitary standout for the visitors.

India put on a fine display with the bat in the first innings courtesy of a dominant Mayank Agarwal. Despite, Shubman Gill getting off to a blinder, he couldn’t continue with the firestorm and his departure kicked off a domino effect for the Indian middle-order with Pujara and Kohli following the trail.

Shreyas Iyer who was the hero of the Indian batting side in the first innings arrested the tailspin for India and started with the initial overhaul. However, his stay in the middle was transient as Ajaz Patel once again came to the fore with his fourth scalp of the day. Wriddhimaan Saha chimed in with another decent display that saw India finishing the first day with a score of 221 for the loss of 4.

However, India couldn’t sustain the fight back  as Ajaz Patel became the third bowler in International cricket to claim all the ten wickets in an innings with India being bowled out for 325. Axar Patel powered a fine half-century towards the end to propel India to the aforementioned numbers.

Surprisingly, the Kiwi batters got entangled in the midst of unprecedented chaos as they chronicled the lowest score in the history of their Test cricket. Mohammed Siraj dismissed the cream of the New Zealand batting with some brutal pace and wily swing while Ashwin chimed in with a late kicker to bowl them out for 62.

Not willing to impose follow on, India walked out to bat and the Indian openers saw off the rest of the day without any casualties as Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara batted beautifully to stall any infringements from the Kiwi side.

The start of Day 3 saw India losing their hero of the match to Ajaz Patel while Pujara couldn’t last long either. Kohli and Shubman Gill played a few impeccable strokes to extend their lead before the latter was removed by Rachin Ravindra. Kohli continued his knock but played the ball onto his own timbre with an unexpected swish of his  blade.

The fall of Kohli saw India changing gears as they were in no mood to hold back anymore with urgency on their trail. Axar Patel again led the charge for the Indians with a quick 41 that saw him hammering 3 fours and 4 sixes.

New Zealand couldn’t stitch any resistance at all as they were faced with the trickery of the Indian spinners with Ravichandran Ashwin dealing the opening blow. Despite the visitors trying desperately to stay on their feet, India’s seasoned offie, Ashwin kept on tugging at their strings with the Blackcaps on the verge of a batting collapse again.

New Zealand finished the day on 142 for the loss of 5 with a mountain to climb on the remaining couple of days. The resumption of Day 4 saw Jayant Yadav being rambunctious in his exploits with four wickets to his name that saw him scalping Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee and Will Sommerville. India bagged the match and the series by an emphatic margin of 372 runs. Mayank Agarwal was adjudged as the man of the match for his blistering knocks in both innings.

Tom Latham, the visiting captain was heard quoting, “A disappointing performance from us. Credit to India for putting up a great performance. 62 all-out would always have set us back. You always want to bat first here, and it only gets worse for batting, and it wasn't how we wanted it to pan out. Guys are able to step up in different conditions and we have managed to get a lot of depth. Very special game for Ajaz, only the third time in the history of the game has a man got all ten. We're going to play Bangladesh after we get back home and we're going to start preparing for that series ASAP.”

Virat Kohli, the returning skipper cited, “To come back with a win again, it's a great feeling and a clinical performance. You want individuals to step up. The first Test was good, and it was a clinical performance here. We discussed the performance and the opposition played out a good draw. The bowlers tried all their best, but the Kiwi batsmen stuck it out really well in Kanpur. Here there was more bounce and the fast bowlers got assistance as well, so it gave us a better chance to win the Test match. The mindset is the same to take Indian cricket forward, even with the new management. It's important to keep the standards of Indian cricket and make sure it's always growing. South Africa is a good challenge. We built it up in England and South Africa last time, and Australia was an accumulation of all that experience. South Africa is a tough challenge and a win that we want to achieve as a team. Hopefully, we can play in South Africa the way we know we can play, and win the series.”

Mayank Agarwal, the man of the match said, “It feels good to be back among the runs and this knock is special for me. I didn't change anything from Kanpur, I just had the mental discipline and determination. The technique isn't going to be the best all the time, it won't guarantee runs, but the will to fight is key. Rahul bhai told me about not thinking of technique mid-series, and told me this is the technique that's got me runs. Sunny sir said I should keep my bat low early on in the innings and opening up my left shoulder. I didn't really think about the second hundred in the match, but should have converted the sixty. We will relish the abroad challenge in South Africa, so we're looking forward to that too.”

Ravichandran Ashwin, the player of the series quoted, “I think I've got 10 (Player of the Series awards now). I enjoyed Wankhede honestly, and everyday there was something new, and I could challenge both edges. It was a wonderful performance by Ajaz. It doesn't spin all the time in Wankhede, and he used the seam and put the ball in the right places, and there was a bit of destiny involved in his 10-for too. Jayant and I have trained together, he flew to Chennai from Haryana in 2014 to pick my mind, so we have a good relation. Axar and I have played since Kings XI. I would like to go to South Africa and win a series there, we haven't done that before, and hopefully we can do it this time.”

India was supposed to tour the Rainbow Nation in their next assignment but following the emergence of the Omicron variant, things currently hang at a standstill with further clarity to be shared.