Washington Sundar, who was not part of the original Indian Test squad and had been performing well in the Ranji Trophy, was brought in for the Test match against New Zealand. In a remarkable display of bowling, he took seven wickets on the first day, helping bowl New Zealand out for 259. This included his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket and his best figures in first-class cricket. Sundar’s performance complemented the efforts of his teammate, Ravichandran Ashwin, who also took three important wickets, surpassing Nathan Lyon’s career total of 530 wickets in fewer Tests.

New Zealand started well, with left-handers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra scoring fifties, but Ashwin and Sundar struck at crucial moments to break key partnerships. Ashwin got Conway out, and Sundar dismissed Ravindra, triggering a collapse in the New Zealand batting lineup. Sundar’s accurate and varied bowling, using turn, drift, and seam movement, made it difficult for the New Zealand batters to settle.

Although New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner fought back with two sixes, Sundar continued to dismantle their lineup, taking out key players like Tim Southee and Ajaz Patel. By the end of the day, India had taken control of the game, although they lost Rohit Sharma late in the day to a delivery from Southee.