Before Washington Sundar scored his maiden Test hundred to help India save the Old Trafford Test, he had had innings of 27 off 90, 0 off 4, 23 off 76, 12* off 7 and 42 off 103 in this series. To go with figures of 2 for 107, 4 for 22, 0 for 21, 1 for 28 and 0 for 73. Nothing extraordinary apart from the Lord’s four-for, but if you sit down and remember the shots of the series and the balls of the series for a highlight reel, Washington Sundar will feature prominently.
Even before the massively drifting offbreak to trap Ben Stokes lbw at Edgbaston, Washington Sundar had reprised his Gabba pull, only more emphatically, off Josh Tongue. Washington Sundar had also been at the receiving end of a stunning offbreak from Joe Root that bowled him. Then there was the lovely inside-out six off Root into the biggest pocket at Lord’s. Nothing more than a chip, but it just kept going.
Washington Sundar an asset
The Impact Player rule in the IPL has been a stumbling block for Washington because the playing condition gives teams no incentive to develop all-rounders. After having become a regular, Washington has played only 15 matches in the three years of the Impact Player era; he played 30 in the previous three.
Being out of sight can hurt a player’s perception, but thankfully not in the eyes of the selectors. It has perhaps also helped Washington Sundar develop his bowling. In this series, for example, no spinner has managed to drift the ball as much as he has: 2.543 degrees on average, with Liam Dawson, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shoaib Bashir hovering around 1.5 degrees.
He has also attacked the stumps more often than other spinners, bar Dawson. On pitches with little help for spinners, drift and line have created most of his seven wickets, including Stokes’ at Edgbaston, which went bewitchingly late and against the prevailing wind.
This is also an improvement on his own numbers of 2.233 degrees against England at home in 2021. He has also bowled quicker than he did at home – average pace of 91.71kph as against 87.61 – perhaps because there isn’t much to be gained on these pitches by going slower. While Washington Sundar has been doing more in the air laterally, it would appear he is not as accurate as Jadeja or perhaps not getting as much dip.
If batters can play the ball within two metres of its pitching or go back and give themselves more than three metres to intercept it, the chances of a spinner getting them in trouble reduce drastically. Spinners endeavour to catch them in between. Washington Sundar has done so only 19.7% of the time in this series; a measure of how good Jadeja is that he has done so every third ball. This is why Jadeja is in the contest almost everywhere. These numbers are consistent with Washington Sundar at home as well.
Add Washington Sundar’s batting to the package, and you know why the decision-makers have been so keen on him. Throughout his effort to draw the fourth Test, it never looked like he would give England even a chance. As early as in his first Test, the historic Gabba win, Washington Sundar showed he was capable of batting in various gears: slow and composed when in trouble in the first innings, counterattacking in a chase.
With so much variations in his bowling many eyebrows ere raised that after the 4 wicket haul at Lord’s , when England was pundering runs in Manchester , Indian skipper didnt turned up to his most potent weapon in form of Washington Sundar. Citing the reason for the same, Shubman Gill at the pre-press conference ahead of the 5th Test at Oval has opened up on the same.
Shubman Gill reveals reason for late introduction of Washington Sundar in 4th Test Match
The Indian team is all set to take on England in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. The two sides will lock horns at The Oval in London from July 31, and with England currently in the lead, India will be hoping to win the game and end the five-game affair in a tie.
With four tests done, there were several moments from the game that stood out. From Shubman Gill’s masterclass in the early games to Ben Stokes asking for a draw in the latter stages of the Manchester clash, the series between England and India has been one to remember for the fans so far.
One of the moments from the fourth Test that has been talked about a lot was the delayed introduction of Washington Sundar with the ball. With England putting in a masterclass with the bat, skipper Shubman Gill decided not to bring Washington Sundar in for quite some time. Opening up on his decision, the captain opined that it gets difficult to manage two spinners.
“It’s very difficult. When you are playing six bowlers, you know that one or two bowlers are definitely going to do under-bowled. In the last match, a lot of people felt that Washington could have come in earlier, which is a valid point. But sometimes when you are out in the middle,” Shubman Gill said at the press conference.
It is worth noting that Washington Sundar went on to be one of the best performers in the Manchester clash. Taking two wickets, Washington Sundar also hit a century, scoring 101* runs in 206 deliveries, helping Team India draw the game. Shubman Gill was quick to laud Sundar’s performance with the bat.
“Washington is someone who gives us so much control with his bowling. His batting has been a really big plus for us. We are fortunate to have players like that in our team who can prevent a collapse in the lower middle order. That was one of the areas where we needed some work. With him coming in, we have improved in that area,” Gill said.
Washington Sundar is at a stage of his career where the team hasn’t quite figured out what his best role is. He could be a specialist batter who bowls a little outside Asia. He could be a frontline spinner who bats in the lower middle order in Asia. Even in this phase, he has elite allrounder’s numbers: average of 44.86 with the bat and 27.87 with the ball.
Of course, at this stage, Washington Sundar gets to play only in conditions that suit him: as a third spinner until now, he came in only in extreme conditions in India. Now, though, he is the heir apparent to the now-retired R Ashwin as the spinner who also bats. Jadeja is no spring chicken. Whenever he retires, Washington is in pole position to become India’s No. 1 all-conditions allrounder.
In scoring his first hundred to draw the Test from the No. 5 slot vacated by the injured Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar has shown enough to earn that trust. Now the expectations are lofty,and India hopes Washington Sundar with his all round ability will play a major part in India’s display at Oval.
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