Throwback to when Neil Wagner denied India a famous Test win in New Zealand in 2014
New Zealand's Neil Wagner announced his retirement from international cricket in tears while speaking to the media on Tuesday.
Wagner chose to take this decision after he was informed by the team management that he was not a part of the plans for the first Test against Australia, starting on Thursday.
The left-arm seamer always gave his all for Kiwis and pushed himself beyond all limits to serve his nation in times of distress. His departure from international cricket will sadden many enthusiasts of the game, especially those who saw him operate in his prime.
Known to hit the deck hard and get as much seam movement and bounce from the surface as possible, Wagner bagged 260 wickets in his Test career. He will go down as one of the all-time greats of the Blackcaps, alongside the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who are still plying their trade.
Brendon McCullum scored a double century in the first Test in Eden Park in 2014
Neil Wagner, however, will be remembered by Indian fans the most for denying the Men in Blue a famous win in the first Test of their 2014 tour in Auckland.
Then-skipper skipper Brendon McCullum scored a fabulous double century in the first innings to help the Kiwis post a mammoth total of 503 at Eden Park. He was assisted ably by the young Kane Williamson, who compiled a decent century coming in at No.3.
Ishant Sharma picked up six wickets for India, but the other bowlers did not have the best of times in the middle. In response, India were bowled out for a mere 202, conceding a huge first-innings lead of 301 runs.
Apart from Rohit Sharma, who scored 72, none of the Indian batters stood up, and this was primarily because of the fearsome spell that Wagner bowled. He ended with figures of 4/64 and kept the Indians in check.
Refusing to let India follow on, McCullum batted again but the Kiwis were in for a rude shock when the Indian fast-bowling trio of Ishant, Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami shared eight wickets among themselves to bowl them out for 105.
All of a sudden, India seemed to be in the game, but the stiff target of 407 runs in the fourth innings seemed daunting.
However, they started extremely well, with Shikhar Dhawan going on to belt a famous century - among the rarest by an Indian opener in New Zealand notwithstanding Gautam Gambhir's heroics in Napier in 2009.
Virat Kohi chipped in with a well-crafted half-century but the Indians seemed to be in awe of Wagner, who picked up another four wickets in this innings.
He bagged both Dhawan and Kohli, before coming back to seize the wickets of Zaheer Khan and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
In the end, the left-arm seamer hit the deck enough times to make sure that India were denied a historic away win by a mere forty runs.