Why was lunch taken early on second day of Mumbai Test match?

Indian cricket team got back into the contest during the second day of the final Test match in Mumbai. With still four minutes left to go for Lunch, the players were ushered off the field by the two on-field umpires.

The reason behind this was one of the spider-cameras had got stuck in the cable and suspended below. The umpires decided to send the players back to the hut for lunch early as the technicians figured out the glitch. India had batted 43 overs and scored 195/5 with Shubman Gill batting on 70 and Ravindra Jadeja on 10. 

India are still trailing New Zealand by 40 runs and will hope to come back from lunch with renewed vigour. The weather in Mumbai is also a huge challenge as the players are struggling with the heat and humidity. 

Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill give India a great start

Team India resumed their batting on the second day of the Mumbai Test match at 86/4. Rishabh Pant began with three crisply timed fours off Ajaz Patel. At the other end, Shubman Gill was his sedate self as he was keen to accumulate the runs. 

New Zealand had two great chances to dismiss both the overnight Indian batters. Mark Chapman dropped Shubman Gill when he was on 45. Matt Henry then dropped a sitter to give Pant a second chance to bat. Glenn Phillips was the unfortunate bowler on both occasions. 

Shubman Gill reached his 7th Test half-century with a single, while Pant got to the mark in just 36 balls. This was the fastest-ever fifty by an Indian batter against New Zealand in Test matches. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 41-ball effort in Pune was the previous record for the fastest 50 in a Test by an Indian against the Kiwis. 

At the end of the first hour, the home team had scored 77 runs without losing a wicket from 14 runs. Their run rate read a healthy 5.5 runs per over as Tom Latham looked bereft of ideas for the first time in the series. Ish Sodhi provided the breakthrough when he dismissed Pant LBW for 60 to break the 96-run stand for the 5th wicket.