'Is he a bird?' - Twitter reacts after Ravindra Jadeja grabs a stunner to send Neil Wagner packing

It did not take Ravindra Jadeja long to make his mark in the ongoing second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch. As expected, he was dropped from the playing eleven for the first Test as Ravichandran Ashwin was preferred ahead of him. But with the off-spinner failing to get going, India recalled Jadeja for the must-win game and the all-rounder made an instant impact.

He could not impress with the bat but made amends for it with his bowling and fielding display. With the ball, the allrounder picked up 2 wickets while giving away 22 runs. His performance helped India take a slender lead of seven runs despite scoring a modest 242 on a decent batting pitch. New Zealand started the day on a promising 63 for no loss before India’s bowlers delivered a fine show.

In the first session, the Virat Kohli-led side picked up 5 wickets for just 79 runs to reduce New Zealand to 142 for 5. Umesh Yadav gave India the first breakthrough by dismissing Tom Blundell before Jasprit Bumrah accounted for the dangerous Kane Williamson. Jadeja then accounted for the in-form Ross Taylor before Mohammed Shami sent back Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham to put India on top.

New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals after the break too and were finally out for 235. Latham was the top-scorer for them with 52 while fast bowler Kyle Jamieson played a crucial knock of 49 to make sure New Zealand do not concede a very big lead. For India, Shami picked up 4 wickets while Bumrah picked up 3.

Ravindra Jadeja’s stunning catch draws praise

Ravindra Jadeja made an impact not only with the ball but also with his fielding. New Zealand were looking set to take the lead when Jamieson and Neil Wagner frustrated the Indian bowlers. The tail-enders had already added 51 runs for the ninth wicket when a moment of brilliance from Jadeja helped India break the stand.

Wagner pulled a Shami delivery quite well and the ball was looking set to sail over the deep square leg boundary. However, Jadeja came running in from the square leg to pull off the sensational catch with just one hand. And as soon as he took the catch, the fans took to Twitter to lavish praise on him.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: