Tea break was good timing: Mitchell on his 82 in Mumbai heat

New Zealand have clinched a historic Test series win in India in a one-sided effort. However, the first two Tests were not fruitful tour for their number five batter, Daryl Mitchell, who came to India with a reputation for being a pretty good player of spin-bowling. But he averaged only 18 in the first two Tests, strangely scoring 18, 18 and 18 in his three innings.

Mitchell fixed that on Day 1 of the Mumbai Test on Friday (November 1), but he continued his strange association with number 18 in this series. Battling extreme heat and the turn and bounce on the Wankhede track, Mitchell top-scored for the Kiwis with 82 runs against his name, this time missing his hundred by 18 runs. 

But his contribution took New Zealand to a total of 235 after the visitors opted to bat first in the third Test. Mitchell reflected on the heat, which was more challenging for him and Will Young (71) than the bowling attack. 

“It’s pretty warm out there today,” he said in the presser after the day’s play. 

“The humidity was pretty sticky, and there wasn’t a lot of breeze. So us Kiwis coming from down in the middle of winter back home, it’s always a good challenge.”

Even the Indian players were seen struggling with the heat and humidity in Mumbai. Washington Sundar, who hails from Chennai, which Sunil Gavaskar claimed to be the hottest place to play cricket in the world (on air), ran to the sidelines to find a seat under the shade after completing one of his 19 overs in the first innings. 

“It was probably more the first hour after lunch with me and Will Young batting that was seriously warm and that’s probably what took it out of us. You could see a number of Indian players were also commentating on how much they were battling with it as well.

“Last half an hour before tea, I was just trying to be switched on and trying to save as much energy I could in between balls and concentrate on breathing and trying to get my core body temperature down,” he said. 

Mitchell thought the tea break helped him find some energy in his legs. During the 20-minute break, the right-hander spent half of it in the ice bath to regain some energy. 

“That tea break was good timing. I jumped in the ice bath feeling a lot better after that,” Mitchell said. 

While New Zealand didn’t put up a towering score in the first innings, India let them back in the game, losing three wickets in eight balls in the final 15 minutes of the day’s play. The hosts slid from 78/1 to finish the day at 86/4, including a disastrous run out for Virat Kohli. 

“The game is evenly poised at the moment. That is the nature of a Test match wicket,” Mitchell said on the state of the game. 

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