Former Indian cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan shared contrasting views on Washington Sundar’s inclusion in the playing XI for the second ODI against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff as well. The all-rounder apparently aggravated an existing injury while batting in the first innings, and did not take the field in the second innings as well. Kaif also questioned why Washington Sundar was pushed to be there in the playing XI when he was clearly injured.

“He was already injured. If you remember, he played three balls while batting. He had come with his hamstring bandaged. He was already injured and he was pushed. The question is whether he could have been rested, or a fit player could have been played and given an opportunity instead,” the former batter said on Cricbuzz.

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“Shivam Dube does not play that much ODI cricket. He has not been in the ODI side for many years now. So, it was a big task for him to bowl 10 overs. If Sundar was there, he could have bowled around six overs, the captain plans like this. But his absence meant that Shivam Dube became the fifth bowler, and he is not a 10 over bowler. So, of course, Sundar’s absence played a part. The wicket was a but slow, the cow corners were quite big on the ground, so the spinners had a role to play,” he continued.

Meanwhile, former India pacer Zaheer Khan added that the team management would have only added Washington Sundar if they were confident that he would be able to play through the injury as well.

“The team management will have the report from the physio before the match, and if he played the match, that means the clearance was there. There is no problem there. Anyone can get injured while going into the match, so you cannot do anything about it. The team could have benefitted from the sixth bowling option today depending on the conditions. Gill would have had the option to apply more pressure,” Zaheer Khan stated.