Pune, Oct 25: On the opening day of the first Test match between India and New Zealand, Washington Sundar put up an incredible display, spinning New Zealand out for 259 with a career-best 7/59. With an outstanding exhibition of spin bowling, the all-rounder—whose presence had been a huge talking point—more than justified his selection, shifting the tide of the match and giving India the upper hand. After the match, legendary Sachin Tendulkar hailed Sundar for his astonishing spell.God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar heavily praised Washington Sundar with a special post from his official ‘X’ account formerly known as Twitter. He posted a picture of Sundar and captioned it by writing ‘Sundar bowling, Washington! Keep it going!’. The post is now going viral all over the social media.
In lieu of Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul, and Mohammed Siraj, India brought in Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, and Akash Deep for the game. Sundar has only participated in five Test matches since making his Test debut in the historic Gabba Test in January 2021. Sundar has been on the bench a lot because the spin department is dominated by Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel.
On the opening day of the second Test match against India in Pune, Devon Conway (76) and Rachin Ravindra (65) spearheaded a strong batting display. The Kiwis appeared ready to score a respectable total as captain Tom Latham chose to bat after winning the toss. However, the visitors were left reeling after being completely destroyed by Indian off-spinner Washington Sundar’s outstanding 7-59.
Had India not lost skipper Rohit Sharma for 0 at the end of the day’s play, they would have finished as a lot happy team. After Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal stayed put and got to Stumps, weathering the difficult burst from the New Zealand spinners, India reached Stumps at 16 for 1 in 11 overs.