Forer India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra is not sure about Washington Sundar’s future. He is even unsure if the youngster can return to Team India’s T20I side after the recent success by the veteran Ravichandran Ashwin in the T20 format of the game.
However, Sundar was a regular face of India’s T20I squad for the last couple of years but was ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2021 due to an injury. Ashwin, who was brought in place of him as an off-spinner, grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra shared his views on Washington Sundar. He said: “It’s a good question. I don’t have an answer. Ashwin has done well but Sundar had not done badly either. Sundar had come into the team because he used to bowl with the new ball and provided depth in the batting, he is not a rocket fielder, he is no Jonty Rhodes.”
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Aakash Chopra further added: “What will happen now, I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine as the things might change because of the management change, the coach and the captain. The previous thinking was that you need a lot of depth in the batting. Rohit has also said that it is very good if there is depth in the batting.”
While Sundar is a great all-rounder, he hasn’t done much in international cricket with the bat in the T20 format as well. He has scored only 47 runs in 31 matches, with an unbeaten 14 being his highest score so far. However, he is more successful in the longer format, scoring 265 runs at an excellent average of 66.25. Aakash Chopra, however, answered whether a quality bowler like Ashwin should be dropped just to add a little more depth to the batting.
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“Do you get that depth with Ashwin or Sundar? Or will you want to leave out a bowler like Ashwin just for the depth? I don’t know because it is not an objective but a subjective call. Objectivity ends if you think who will bowl the better four overs – Ashwin will do that better than Washington Sundar, but as a package you need more depth in the batting. Washington Sundar will provide more depth. Both are equal as fielders, so it is not an objective but a subjective call. The captain and coach will take the subjective call, I don’t know anything about this,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
