"When Rishabh Pant hit the winning four, it was the best feeling of my life" - Washington Sundar
Young Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar believes the boundary off Rishabh Pant's bat that gave Team India a historic win in Brisbane was probably the best feeling of his life so far.
Despite going through a plethora of injuries, the visitors put on a spirited display in the series decider and ended Australia's 32-year unbeaten streak at the Gabba.
Washington Sundar had made a dazzling 62 in his debut Test innings and also picked up four wickets in the game.
However, in the second innings, the 21-year-old walked out to bat when the match looked to be evenly poised. Team India needed another 63 runs to win, with just five wickets in hand.
Speaking to Sports Today, Washington Sundar revealed how his partnership of 53 with Pant helped the visitors script a historic win.
"Rishabh and I have played a lot of cricket since our Under-19 days and that helped a lot. He was batting superbly and that helped us take control. When I went in we still needed 50. I knew if we got 25-30 runs they will feel the pressure and we could win. That’s exactly what we did," Washington Sundar said.
With just 10 runs to get, Washington Sundar had a rush of blood as he was clean bowled trying to reverse sweep a ball off the bowling of Nathan Lyon.
However, he was relieved after Pant hit the winning runs through a boundary straight down the ground. He said in this regard:
"When Rishabh hit the winning four it was just the best feeling of my life: and when I was walking with the Indian flag at the Gabba it is a feeling I can’t express in words," he further added.
Washington Sundar credits the team management, captain and vice-captain for their support
As many as five players made their Test debut for India in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Despite having such inexperience in their squad, Washington Sundar revealed that head coach Ravi Shastri always motivated the youngsters to make an impact.
Sundar also thanked skipper Ajinkya Rahane and vice-captain Rohit Sharma for always having the youngsters' back, and giving them freedom to play their natural game.
"Ravi bhai has always given us confidence and the way Ajinkya captained was superb. Rohit has always helped us all the youngsters and the dressing room was fantastic, all of us were allowed to express ourselves," Washington Sundar said.
Question marks were raised over Washington Sundar's selection ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in the fourth Test at the Gabba.
However, the youngster's impressive all-round performance on Test debut has garnered praise from the entire cricketing fraternity.
Team India's next assignment is a home Test series against England, and Washington Sundar finds himself in the 18-man squad for the first two Tests.
With the likes of Ravindra Jadeja still not fully fit, the 21-year-old will be hopeful of representing his country during the series.