Washington Sundar played a stoic hand in his two innings at number three, albeit in a losing cause for India in the Eden Gardens Test against South Africa. On a crumbling and creaking Kolkata pitch, Sundar emerged in the unlikely role and succeeded with control rather than most of his peers during an embarrassing 30-run defeat.
Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, however, cautioned against the decision to put Sundar at No. 3 as a long-term move. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder replaced state his teammate Sai Sudharsan in the order, with India opting for four spinners on a rank turner. Karthik added that with Sundar forced to focus more on his batting, his bowling load will automatically dwindle even in practice sessions.
“Where is Washington Sundar the Test player, being looked at? Is he a bowler who can bat? Now if you are sending him at three, you are almost telling him that he needs to focus a lot more on batting. The moment he starts spending those long hours for batting in practice, you tend to reduce your practice for bowling because it is physically impossible to be good at both.
“So the message is very straightforward that we are looking at big runs from you. This could affect his bowling in the long run. It is a very tricky one,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
South Africa pace legend Shaun Pollock also lauded Sundar’s temperament in his fresh role in the top order. “Application is the right word. I think he will still work out his game plan how he wants to pace is innings at three, when he wants to be positive or aggressive. But he deserves a run. So you keep him in that position, give him another four-five Test matches and see how he goes. If things dont pan out well then you can maybe look to make a change.
“I always felt that he was underutilised. They probably could have had a look at him a bit more. But as far as the batting goes, nothing wrong with his application. He will work out more as he goes along,” remarked Pollock.
