"Shubman Gill's dismissal will somehow pinch the Indian team" - Pragyan Ojha
Former Indian spinner ojha" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">Pragyan Ojha has opined that the loss of opener Shubman Gill will 'pinch' the Indian team. The 35-year-old mentioned that India played excellent cricket throughout Day 3. However, losing the opener at the fag end will hinder the hosts.
The Indian bowlers did a spectacular job today, chipping away with wickets at regular intervals and kept the Kiwi batters at bay. After managing a cushion of 49 runs from the first innings, India were asked to bat out the remaining five overs of the day.
However, much to India's dismay, Kyle Jamieson outfoxed Shubman Gill for the second time in the match. While weighing upon the opener's dismissal, Pragyan Ojha opined that Gill's dismissal will somehow 'pinch' the Ajinkya Rahane-led side. While talking at Cricbuzz Live, Ojha said:
"The Shubman Gill dismissal will somewhere pinch the Indian team. If you've played great the whole day, you want to end the day's play on a good note. So that might hinder the team."
Notably, this was the seventh time Gill had been dismissed courtesy of being bowled or LBW in his brief Test career.
"His next challenge will be how performs overseas" - Pragyan Ojha on Axar Patel
The former Indian left-arm orthodox spinner also feels that after spinning the web on Indian surfaces, Axar Patel's next challenge lies in overseas conditions.
The 27-year-old bowled remarkably against the Kiwi batters and turned the match on its head. The left-armer claimed his fifth fifer in Test cricket. While lauding Axar Patel's impactful bowling on Indian pitches, Ojha said:
"It's absolutely not easy to perform the way Axar is performing. He's already taken 5 five-fors and that's a big, big achievement. It shows how impactful he wants to be in the longest format of the game. His next challenge will be how performs overseas. He has done excellently in India till now."
Ojha also elucidated that Patel's biggest strength lies in bowling a stump-to-stump line. He said:
"Axar's biggest strength is how he holds the game and bowls stump to stump. Whether the ball is spinning or is keeping straight- it is finishes on the stumps."
This was the sixth successive instance of him taking 4+ wickets in an innings - no other Indian bowler has done so in more than four consecutive innings.