After KL Rahul guided India home to victory in the first One Day International against New Zealand, he revealed that he was left surprised when he realised that his batting partner Washington Sundar was struggling to run. The 26-year-old Sundar had hobbled off mid-way through New Zealand’s innings after bowling five overs for 27 runs. And while he did not come back to the field, he was out in the middle in India’s innings to see them through.
India captain Shubman Gill revealed that Sundar will undergo a scan after picking up a side strain.
Rahul scored an unbeaten 29 off 21 balls at Vadodara while Sundar was not out on seven runs off seven balls. Chasing 301 runs, Virat Kohli (93), Shubman Gill (56) and Shreyas Iyer (49) had set India on course for victory before they needed Rahul to pull off the finish with players like Sundar and Harshit Rana.
“I don’t think the pressure really came in during the last 4-5 overs. Harshit did a terrific job as soon as he walked in. He took a lot of pressure off me with the way he struck the ball, and suddenly the chase became much easier. I stayed pretty calm towards the end. We weren’t chasing too many – around 6-7 an over – and at this level, that’s something you’re expected to chase down 9 out 10 times. I didn’t know he (Washington) couldn’t run. I knew he had a bit of an injury in the first innings, but I wasn’t aware of the extent. That said, he was striking the ball really well. When he came in, we were already going at about a run-a-ball, so there was no need to take unnecessary risks. There wasn’t too much pressure on him. He rotated the strike, and did his job. Everyone who walked in contributed and that made the difference,” Rahul said after the victory.
Asked if the pitch had changed its nature, Sundar said: “Not really. I thought it played pretty much the same throughout the 100 overs. The new ball was the best time to bat on this wicket. The way Rohit Sharma started with Shubman, and then the partnership between Shubman and Virat, set the tone perfectly. They scored quickly and found the right tempo. If we’d gone at 4-5 an over early on, the chase later could’ve been 7-8 an over, which is always tough. The wicket did get a bit slower later, but the top-order did their job and made it much easier for the lower-order batters.”
