As followers proceed to soak in India’s terrific slim win over England, which helped them draw the collection 2-2 for the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, one can not help however think about the grit and braveness this younger crew underneath Shubman Gill displayed. Not many gave them an opportunity to win – with some doubters even sure of a 5-0 whitewash – however after 25 days of intense cricket, Gill proved he’s the appropriate man to guide India. The captain led from the entrance, racking up a mountain of runs – 754 to be exact – setting the proper instance for the remainder of the batters to shine by.
As Sourav Ganguly identified, the type of domination that the Indian batters produced hasn’t been witnessed in England in practically twenty years. As many as six completely different batters scored centuries, some hitting a number of and double lots of. Barring Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair, the whole prime six contributed. Yashasvi Jaiswal grew in popularity as India’s subsequent massive Check batter, whereas KL Rahul as soon as once more lived as much as his moniker of Mr. Reliable. Rishabh Pant was again to his belligerent finest, and Ravindra Jadeja’s batting shares exploded like by no means earlier than. Nevertheless, the one shock bundle that India did not anticipate to fireplace by was Washington Sundar.
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir confronted loads of flak for taking part in Washington forward of Kuldeep Yadav to show why having extra batting depth is the way in which to go about it. However that Sundar’s batting will nourish within the method it did was a nice shock. Enjoying in 4 out of the 5 Assessments confirmed Gambhir’s perception in his go-to man, and Sundar greater than lived as much as his efficiency, scoring 284 runs with one fifty and 100, and choosing seven wickets.
At 25, Sundar has featured in 13 Assessments for India, however Australia nice Greg Chappell expects the all-rounder to no less than play 50 of them. Sundar made his Check debut for India in opposition to Australia within the well-known Gabba Check in 2021, however minimize to in the present day in 2025, he has solely been a part of the Enjoying XI in 12 extra. Chappell expects him to play Assessments for India extra steadily and grow to be the crew’s No. 1 all-rounder.
“I will probably be shocked if Washington Sundar does not set up himself because the crew’s premier all-rounder, who I anticipate to play in extra of fifty Assessments,” he wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
Why Washington Sundar is India’s future
For the longest time, Sundar’s omission was given, contemplating Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had been India’s two main spinners. Nevertheless, the legendary Ashwin’s retirement has opened the gates for him to take over. Within the dwelling collection in opposition to New Zealand, Sundar grabbed 16 wickets, together with career-best figures of seven/59. Gambhir has at all times been excessive on Sundar for what he brings to the desk – an off-spinner who can rating helpful runs with the bat. Nevertheless, regardless of the England Assessments have proven, Sundar can flourish in each departments.
Sundar’s effort of 4/22 might have gone in useless as England edged India by 22 runs at Lord’s, but it surely was a precursor of issues to come back. In what proved to be a pivotal knock in Manchester, Sundar and Jadeja cast an unbeaten 200-plus partnership, steering India to a outstanding draw with each hitting their respective centuries. Only a day earlier, with the highest order crumbling to 0/2, such a outcome appeared unimaginable.
