Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar was seen showering praises on the Indian all-rounder, Washington Sundar, saying that the latter has a very good temperament to go with very good basics. Gavaskar’s comments came after Sundar played another fighting knock, hitting an unbeaten knock of 85 to help India out of big trouble in the first innings of the 1st Test against England in Chennai.

Sunil Gavaskar looked extremely impressed not just by some of the shots played by Washington but also his defense against the likes of James Anderson and Jofra Archer and the England spinner. Gavaskar pointed out that Sundar was at ease when defending off the front and back foot against the turn on Day 3 Chepauk wicket.

Sundar stitched a crucial 80-run stand for the 7th wicket with R Ashwin but missed out on his maiden Test hundred by 15 runs as he ran out of partners before India were bowled out for 337.

WATCH – Ben Stokes Grabbed A Stunner To Send Back Jasprit Bumrah 

Talking about the youngster during a chat on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said, “He and Ravichandran Ashwin, that partnership of 80-plus got India back in them. If they had dismissed for not too many, then England would have had a lead of 341 instead of 241. Then they would have declared after giving their bowlers enough overs to recover. Those things would have come into play.”

He further added, “Look at the way Washington Sundar batted. Some of the shots he played were fabulous. That lofted shot of James Anderson for a six and then the shot against Joe Root as well. A well-deserved half-century, he deserved a 100 but unfortunately, batting at No. 7 you don’t get a lot of hundreds. That 85 not out is as good as a hundred.’

Elaborating further, Gavaskar shed light on how well Sundar negotiated both spin and pace on a Chepauk pitch that started to do things when England took the 2nd new ball on Monday.

ALSO READ: Rishabh Pant Receives ICC Men’s Players Of The Month Award

Sunil Gavaskar explained, “Often it’s the way you defend a good ball that tells how good a player you are and the way he was defending those deliveries against Anderson, Archer and against the turn as well, the way he was playing the backfoot defense shows he has got the basics right. Basics added to very good temperament makes a very good player. I think he is a very good player.”