India vs New Zealand Live Score 3rd Test, Day 1: Washington Sundar picked two wickets in the first session

It has been 20 years since India entered a Test match of a home series after having already lost it, and that too was at the Wankhede Stadium. This was the fourth Test against Australia, with the visitors having already won the first and third games of the series. India brought about a change in order at that time, which resulted in the game lasting just three days and the hosts winning by 13 runs.

If reports are to be believed, there will be a change of rank in the third Test between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium even though the hosts had also lost the second game in Pune on a turnaround. The home team's management has asked the Mumbai Cricket Association to prepare a pitch that will “help the spinners from day one”. The presence of red soil provides sufficient bounce in addition to spin. The pitch in Pune, on the other hand, was a slow turner.

The difference from the previous instances where India lost a Test at home due to spin bowling batting failure compared to what happened in Pune was that their top spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were among those playing for played the opponent, were defeated. Both Jadeja and Ashwin were successful at the Wankhede Stadium. In five Tests, Ashwin has taken 38 wickets at 18.42, the highest tally of any bowler at the ground. In his only game, Ravindra Jadeja also managed six wickets.

The last time India lost all their matches in a Test series at home was in February 2000 when South Africa beat them 0-2. India's defeat in the first Test of the current series was their first home defeat against New Zealand in this format since 1988. The defeat in the second Test was the first time ever that India lost a Test series at home against New Zealand. This also ended a record winning streak of 18 home games. The first Test saw conditions much closer to the Kiwis' advantage as the visitors used only pacers in India's first innings and bowled them out for a record low 46 runs. Furthermore, India also made an extraordinary comeback in the second innings.

The defeat in the second Test, followed by Rohit's comments in the post-match press conference, brought India some real criticism. These were supposedly the conditions under which India thrived. However, Washington Sundar's seven-wicket haul was equaled and surpassed by Mitchell Santner, while their batters seemed to have no answer to the Kiwi spinners other than to try and beat them.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir, whose tenure ended with defeat in his maiden Test series, reiterated that India must be an adaptable batting side. “We should be able to adapt. We should be a team that can hit 400 in a day if we need to get a result and also be able to bat for two days. That's what growth is about and that's what Test cricket is about.” Gambhir told reporters on Thursday.

“Test cricket cannot be played in a one-size-fits-all manner because it is about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it is about playing sessions. If we can start learning to play sessions with the quality that we have.” “I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions that we have in our batting line-up, we'll be putting a lot of runs at stake have,” said Gambhir.

Highlights from 3rd Test Day 1 India vs New Zealand:

– New Zealand were 92/3 in 27 overs at lunch

– Washington Sundar got the wickets of Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra

– Akash Deep made the early breakthrough for the hosts, dismissing Devon Conway in the 4th over

– India rested Jasprit Bumrah

– New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first

– India have already lost the series but are now looking to avoid a rare defeat at home

– India have only been whitewashed at home once in Test history and that was a 2-0 loss to South Africa in 2000