IND vs NZ | Basin Reserve Day 3 Talking Points - Short deliveries, tail-enders and New Zealand put India in trouble

It was not the first time India failed to wrap up the tail after getting early wickets in a day and by the looks of it, it will not be the last one too. When BJ Watling was dismissed, India had Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee to dismiss. They picked up Southee, however, they were not ready for Kyle Jamieson. Jamieson was a genuine surprise for the Indians, however, they have had the nack of allowing bowlers to score runs - Mitchell Starc, Sam Curran. Virat Kohli, in particular, missed a trick when he brought on Ravichandran Ashwin against the right-handed Jamieson. The lanky pacer hit four sixes off Ashwin and from there, the game started to drift wider and wider for India. If Kohli had brought on his strike bowlers when Jamieson walked in, things could have been different. 

India’s issues with picking up the tail-enders has been a one of a recurring theme in every away tour. This time, the duo of Grandhomme- Jamieson put on 71 runs for an eight-wicket partnership. Grandhomme and Boult put on 14 runs of their own, and for the last wicket, Boult’s entertaining yet swashbuckling innings cost India 38 more on Day 3. In total, India conceded an extra 123 runs lead for the home side after getting an early wicket in the day. Kohli indeed missed a trick by not bowling his strike bowlers when the tail-enders walked in to bat, nearly costing India a Test. 

When Prithvi Shaw top-edged one to the square leg fielder, the field immediately changed. The three men in the leg-side moved to the off-side for the new batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara. New Zealand’s approach to tackling Pujara was straightforward- bowl to him outside off and get him caught by surprise driving to the short-cover on the off-side. They were nearly successful when Colin de Grandhomme caught Pujara by surprise with the lack of bounce and pace on the wicket. The ball nearly popped straight to the fielder in short-cover, only for it to bounce centimetres short of the fielder. Pujara’s strength is often on the off-side when he manages to get it past the fielders in covers. It did not give the right-hander an easy single and he continued his toil for runs on Day 3. 

New Zealand’s ploy on Day 3 was visible, which incidentally was also their ‘Plan-B,’ which is to bounce the opposition out on an otherwise flat deck. After the wearing of the new-ball, the Kiwi pace attack, comprising the trio - Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee - opted to unleash the short ones. Early on, the duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal struggled against the pacy deliveries. However, it also ensured that there were no easy runs on offer which continued to be the trend on Day 3 for the home pacers. When Virat Kohli arrived to bat, following the dismissal of Pujara, they continued their short-ball tactics. At one point, you could bank on the pacers to deliver at least three short-paced ones in the over. For Kohli, they went early on with the outside the off-stump tactics before employing the short ones.