The Indian all-rounder, Washington Sundar made his Test debut on Friday for the ongoing Test against Australia at Gabba in Brisbane. Ahead of his debut, he had bowled just over 285 overs in first-class cricket and after dismissing Steve Smith, he committed to bowl 50 in an innings if required by the team. He was asked to stay back by the team management after the white-ball series to help as a net bowler but injuries to Ravichandran Ashwin landed Sundar in the Test debut.
Talking about his debut, Washington Sundar said, “I have always felt that my skills are very good with the red ball. I have bowled a lot of overs in first-class cricket and first division league in Chennai as well. I was just waiting for this opportunity and the last couple of months, we were here, I did get to bowl a lot of overs and improve upon my skills.”
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He further added, “We had some plans going for Steve Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne and I am very glad they worked. The first wicket definitely felt good. We did have some plans for Smith and it’s a different game altogether. The last game was different, conditions were different and I had to bowl good balls over and over again. It happened (the dismissal) and it’s great.”
"I think Nattu (Natarajan) bowled really well today and brought us back in the game," says @Sundarwashi5 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/VWQPRn8Kpp
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 15, 2021
The former India U-19 World Cup squad member feels the Gabba pitch has been helping the batsmen and they have done a great job wicket was good for batting and it was a great effort to reduce the hosts to 274 for 5.
Explaining the same, Sundar said, “There was a little bit of spongy bounce till lunch and the wicket was good and bowlers did a good job to restrict Australia to 5 for 274. I was really happy that it was a phase that I had to go through. If you see everyone, they have all done well at the first-class level. More than experience, the guys were all excited. Nattu (T Natarajan) bowled really well and he brought his value to the team.”
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Sundar started as a specialist batsman at the U-19 India level before turning into a specialist spinner and now this Australia tour could be the making of an all-rounder. His father named him Washington after his own mentor, who used to buy books, uniforms for him, and no wonder the 21-year-old is filled with gratitude for his family and their sacrifices.
