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Little bit gloomy this morning. The end we are standing on has been tough for the batters, all 10 wickets have come from this pavilion end. The pitch hasn’t changed too much. There will be turn to a large extent but what’s important is the speeds at which bowlers operate. There isn’t much moisture but what Indian batters needs to deal with is the natural variation off the pitch. Still tough conditions from a batting point of view, enough in it for the bowlers.
It's amazing to be living the dream. I manifested for this to happen in this particular series for a couple of weeks. The way it came through - I wasn't part of the first Test, and I was called for this particular Test and I was given an opportunity to play in the XI. Really grateful to the coach and captain. Unbelievable feeling. I wanted to be very accurate no matter what situation I was bowling in or which batsman I was coming across. It's God's plan. Just came through really well and I just focussed in particular to hit the right areas consistently, change my pace little bit here and there, and really grateful for what happened. We genuinely felt it will start spinning from Day 1. It did spin in the first session. But I don't think it did a lot in the second session. Probably settled down - the moisture wasn't there in the second session, but eventually it started spinning again. Unfair for me to choose one to be honest (favourite dismissal). Rachin Ravindra was batting really well, they were getting into a decent position and for me to get his wicket just before tea, and also Daryl Mitchell's wicket just after tea was a gamechanger I guess.
Rishabh Pant is a livewire on the field, bringing energy to the atmosphere with his thrilling shots while batting and his entertaining antics behind the wickets.
In a hilarious turn of events that unfolded during the first day's play of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune, Pant was caught on the stump mic telling spinner Washington Sundar to bowl a bit fuller to Kiwi tailender Ajaz Patel.
"Washi aage daal sakta you can bowl a little fuller, thoda bahar daal sakta hai," Pant came up with a suggestion to Sundar.
Sundar seemed to have followed Pant's advice, delivering a tossed-up ball that turned out to be a bit too straight. Ajaz Patel swung through the line, and the ball flew to the right of mid-on, racing away for four runs.