Jadeja emulates Dhoni's legendary act flawlessly as India's woes are compounded by Sundar's lackluster effort

The opening session on Day 3 of the second Test between India and New Zealand in Pune was dominated by the home team. Yashasvi Jaiswal made an impressive start with the bat, leading India's strong chase of 359 to salvage the series. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja shone with the ball, taking three of the five wickets that fell in the first hour of play and also executing a brilliant run out reminiscent of MS Dhoni.

It happened in the 70th over of New Zealand's second innings when Glenn Phillips, aiming for a half-century knock, sliced the fuller ball from Jadeja off the back foot in front of sweeper cover and quickly pushed for a two. Washington Sundar, who was stationed in the deep, showed no urgency in his fielding effort as he waited for the ball to come to him, leaving Jadeja vexed. He threw his arms in the air, showing his frustration, before Sundar jogged forward to throw it back to the non-striker's end.

William O'Rourke, the other New Zealand batter at the crease, too was complacent in his efforts to complete the second single as Jadeja nonchalantly flicked the ball from Sundar towards the stump, much like former India captain MS Dhoni often does. The all-rounder broke into an appeal and so did Virat Kohli, who was stationed at cover. Replays then showed that the New Zealand batter was only a centimetre short of the crease, thus leaving Phillips stranded at 48. The dismissal also saw the visitors being folded for 255.

New Zealand ticked just one box in the entire session, picking the wicket of captain Rohit Sharma with Mitchell Santer, who was the wrecker-in-chief for India in the first innings with his seven-wicket haul, getting the better of the opener after setting him up with speed variations.

However, Jaiswal came out all guns blazing in the innings. After surviving a scare in his first ball, he broke shackles with a second-ball six and raced to 46 not out off 36 balls with three sixes and as many fours. Shubman Gill was batting on 22 as Indian batters made their intentions clear. Jaiswal’s onslaught shaved off a good chunk of target which the Kiwis had set but spin remained a threat.

With another 278 runs needed to safeguard their impeccable record at home, Indian batters face a huge task after their flop show in first innings.