"I had told him that when he starts spinning the ball, it will be tougher to play him" - Harbhajan Singh lauds Washington Sundar's bowling

Washington Sundar is known to be a restrictive bowler [P/C: BCCI]

Harbhajan Singh has highlighted that Washington Sundar's inclination to spin the ball paid him rich dividends in the first ODI against the West Indies.

Sundar returned figures of 3/30 in his nine overs to help Team India bowl out the visitors for 176 runs. His dismissals of Brandon King and Darren Bravo in the 12th over of the West Indian innings put the hosts on top in the encounter.

While lauding Washington Sundar's performance during a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh recalled his interaction with the lanky spinner during the IPL. He said:

"When I had spoken to him [Sundar] last time, our match was there against them in Abu Dhabi, I had told him that when he starts spinning the ball, it will be tougher to play him. Today I am very happy, that he spun the ball. When the first ball spins from in front, no batter remains comfortable."

The former India off-spinner highlighted the importance of turning the ball to pick up wickets. Harbhajan explained:

"When the ball is in the spinner's hand, his role is to spin the ball. But when we play the shorter format (T20), it seems at times that if we spin the ball, a big shot can be played with the spin, which we ourselves put in our mind. You will only get wickets if you spin the ball, even fast bowlers are bowling the straight balls."

Washington Sundar (in Press) said "Rohit Sharma has always asked us to stick to the strengths. Don't carry away with too many things. I am focusing on my stock balls and my strengths".

Washington Sundar is generally used in limited-overs cricket to restrict the flow of runs. However, he was penetrative in yesterday's encounter as apart from the two early wickets, he also broke the 78-run partnership between Fabian Allen and Jason Holder.

"It was enjoyable to see Washington Sundar bowl" - Mohammad Kaif

Washington Sundar was the third-highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Mohammad Kaif was also delighted with Sundar's effort with the ball. He elaborated:

"It was enjoyable to see him [Sundar] bowl. There was a mixture in his bowling. He bowls fast in the air but today he also bowled slow. He turned the ball, I remember the first ball of his spell turned sharply."

The former India cricketer pointed out that Washington Sundar's stint with Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy held the off-spinner in good stead. Kaif observed:

"He took advantage of the help for the spinners on the pitch. He was slightly unfortunate that he could not play regularly. He used to play T20Is for India but got injured, could not play the World Cup as well but he seemed ready when he made a comeback. He played domestic also for Tamil Nadu, he looked in rhythm."

Felt amazing to be back playing in the Indian colours. This win is Special as it marks #TeamIndia’s 1000th ODI. 😇 We keep moving forward 🇮🇳 https://t.co/lOvaJ3wxdh

Sundar missed the T20 World Cup 2021 as he was unable to recover from the finger injury he sustained during India's tour of England. The 22-year-old also had to miss the ODI series against South Africa as he tested positive for COVID-19.