Virat Kohli run-out, night-watchman Mohammed Siraj burns review: Rare whitewash looms after India's late collapse

Virat Kohli run-out, night-watchman Mohammed Siraj burns review (BCCI Photo)

How quickly can a Test match turn on its head? It can happen in a blink of eye, to be true. In the 147-year history of the game, it has happened numerous times. Seemingly impregnable positions became vulnerable in the space of a few overs. Teams went on to win when all hopes seemed lost.

If one has to look for such an instance on Indian soil in recent times, nothing can beat what Wankhede Stadium witnessed on Day 1 of third Test between India and New Zealand. In control of proceedings with just about two overs remaining, the home team handed the advantage to the visitors on a platter. With due respect to the diligent Kiwis, they didn’t earn those wickets. These were gift-wrapped to them, when such possibilities seemed remote.

One will say that this started with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strange decision to reverse-sweep a ball pitched outside leg stump. He had played the shot earlier and got runs. The difference was, the line was different. When an opening batter does this in a Test match, it looks ugly. There were two overs to go before the umpires would have called it a day when he did that.

Even this would have been acceptable had India showed commonsense after that. But in came Mohammed Siraj as night-watchman. A player in this role is usually someone who has at least a few runs under his in first-class cricket. It’s never someone who is a rank outsider as a batter. Not only did he get out first ball, but also wasted a review.

He came,He uses DRS,He left
Sir. Mohammed Siraj . #INDvNZ #INDWvNZW #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/FDhguR7gxZ Aman Jha (@cb_amann) November 1, 2024

Virat Kohli’s urge to test the arms of these New Zealanders who are renowned for their fielding was the last act in this tale of suicides. A great runner between wickets, he had no reason to take that risk at that point in time. It was just a matter of sitting quiet for a handful of deliveries. It’s not as if he had not opened his account. Such imprudence from a seasoned pro can hurt teams and at the moment, this team is paying the price.

Matt Henry's direct hit catches Virat Kohli short #INDvNZ #IDFCFirstBankTestTrophy #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/cL4RvUdMST JioCinema (@JioCinema) November 1, 2024

Before this momentary lapse of reason, even Rohit Sharma’s dismissal was inexplicable. It was a nothing shot that the captain got out to. Any coach of a school team will rebuke a player for trying something like that. The rot, so to say, began at the top and early in the innings. What we saw in the end can possibly be regarded as a logical progression of this syndrome called serial madness.

“I didn’t even get the time to comprehend. Everything happened in 10 minutes,” Ravindra Jadeja said after stumps. He had played his part by helping India dismiss New Zealand for 235. “But it happens. In a team game, you can’t blame anyone. Everyone makes small mistakes. The remaining batters will have to stitch small partnerships. We will have to do as much as we can.”

It’s possible that India will bounce back and make a match of this. In the history Test cricket, there are instances of teams doing that as well. But, for now, India have conceded an edge to New Zealand in the last Test of a series they have already lost. The momentum is with the visitors. A rare whitewash at home is not looking that improbable, due to that late collapse of reason.