Sunil Gavaskar and Washington Sundar. (Photo source: BCCI)
Washington Sundar was roped in by India ahead of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune. The New Zealand southpaws such as Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra were instrumental in the visitor’s Bengaluru exploits. Sundar’s inclusion came in the wake of tackling the southpaws, spin-friendly MCA deck, and added batting advantage down the order.
The move proved vital on Day 1 as the Tamil Nadu all-rounder unleashed mayhem by picking seven wickets for just 59 runs. As the 25-year-old was brought into the squad in place of Kuldeep Yadav, former player Sunil Gavaskar seemed unsettled with the move despite Sundar paying dividends. He quipped that Kuldeep too could take the ball away from the New Zealand left-handers.
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“What an inspired selection. He is picked in the XI because he can bat a little bit, and bowl a little bit. The selection of Washington Sundar tells me that the Indian team was worried about their batting. He is in not just because of his off-spin but because he can get more runs at the lower order,” said Gavaskar said while commentating.
Earlier in the day after the toss, Gavaskar hinted that he did not appreciate Sundar’s selection and would have gone ahead with Kuldeep Yadav itself in this match.
“Yes, I think there has been a lot of talk about the number of left-handers in the New Zealand batting line-up but if I had to do that then I would have picked another guy like Kuldeep Yadav, who can turn the ball away from the left-handers. He’s pretty hand with the bat as well. Obviously, not as heavy-scoring as Sundar,” he added.
Sundar picked the key wickets of Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Glenn Phillips in his seven-fer. As a result, the BlackCaps were bowled out for just 259 runs. India commenced their innings and lost Rohit Sharma in a jiffy and scored 16 runs at the end of day’s play with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the middle.