What’s Washington Sundar’s role? It’s a question no one has an answer to. One day, he bats at number three for India in Test cricket; another day, he’s moved to eight. Seen as a bowling all-rounder, Sundar isn’t often trusted with the ball. That happened in England and against South Africa recently.
What is Washington Sundar’s role?
In the ongoing ODI series, Sundar batted at number five in Ranchi. The move was taken after Axar Patel, who bats there, was either rested or dropped from the team. He bowled just 3 overs as Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja combined to bowl 19 overs.
In Raipur, he was dropped down to number six with interim captain KL Rahul promoting himself. While defending a 359-run target, Sundar was given just 4 overs. Granted, he went at 7 runs per over, but Kuldeep bowled his full quota and went at 7.80. From the outside, it looks very muddled. Perhaps Sundar himself isn’t certain what role has been assigned to him.
Batter over bowler in ODIs
On the eve of the India vs South Africa 3rd ODI at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Ryan ten Doeschate was asked about Sundar’s role. India’s assistant coach made it clear that the all-rounder has been picked as a batting all-rounder first for the ongoing series. Due to the dew effect, spinners can’t bowl much, and at the moment, he’s a batter who bowls.
“In those conditions, you can’t bowl 20 overs of spin. Washington is still learning; he is confident. He has had a very good 12 months. He is working on certain things, like having five fielders outside the circle while batting,” India’s assistant coach told reporters in Visakhapatnam.
If Jadeja and Kuldeep aren’t at their best, perhaps Sundar might bowl more than a couple of overs. But from Ryan’s comments, it seems like the management has placed a cap on the number of overs he might deliver.
India squad for 3rd South Africa ODI
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (c & wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
