"The greatest of all time in the making" - Twitterati laud Washington Sundar for his brilliant 85*
Washington Sundar was left stranded on 85* as Jasprit Bumrah was the last Indian wicket to fall, thanks to a stunning catch from Ben Stokes. The all-rounder took a single off the fourth ball of James Anderson's over and hoped Bumrah would survive the last two deliveries.
However, that was not to be as Bumrah edged one behind to Stokes, who completed a sensational grab in the slips to give the visitors a huge first innings lead of 241 runs.
Fans on Twitter hail Washington Sundar for his brilliant innings
Washington Sundar, who wasn't able to score a hundred on his Test debut at the Gabba, was looking good to reach the milestone at Chepauk, his home ground.
The 21-year-old will certainly be crestfallen after missing out on his debut Test century by just 15 runs. Fans on Twitter empathized with Washington Sundar and congratulated him for a fine innings under pressure. Here is what they had to say:
Washington Sundar came out to bat when Team India were in a very tricky situation at 192-5, having just lost Cheteshwar Pujara through a freak dismissal. Rishabh Pant soon departed, and it was all upto the all-rounder and Ravichandran Ashwin to bat for as long as possible.
Negotiating the remainder of the day's play, the duo came out on Day 4 with the goal of getting as close as possible to England's huge first innings total. Both the Chennai boys were positive in their footwork and didn't hesitate to put the bad balls away. They added 80 runs for the seventh wicket and looked quite comfortable at the crease.
However, the second new ball began to play tricks and the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals. Washington Sundar began to play aggressively, knowing that he was running out of partners at the other end. Even then, he couldn't reach his maiden Test hundred.
Although he might be disappointed, the 21-year-old should be proud of what he has achieved in his first two Tests. Having faced the external scrutiny for being selected ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, Sundar had to justify his inclusion in the playing XI as an all-rounder.
After going wicketless, Washington Sundar had to deliver with the bat to keep Team India in the game. It is safe to say that he has the temperament to play as a pure batsman in the longest format.