When Washington Sundar was too hot to handle for New Zealand
Washington Sundar proved his mettle at Ranchi and shut down all his doubters. He showed why he is being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket right now.
Not only did he contribute with the ball, but with the bat in hand, he showed his batting prowess as well.
Washington Sundar shines with the ball
When the New Zealand opening duo of Finn Allen and Devon Conway started plundering the Indian attack in all parts of the ground, skipper Hardik Pandya saw no option but to bring Sundar into the attack.
Allen did sweep him a six over deep midwicket for a six, but the all-rounder foxed the batsman by slowing down the middle stump to allow the ball to turn, which induced a false shot from the New Zealand opener.
WHAT. A. CATCH š„š„
@Sundarwashi5 dives to his right and takes a stunning catch off his own bowling š
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In the very same innings, Washington Sundar dismissed Chapman with another slower loopy delivery, which got the extra bounce that he generated from the pitch due to his height by holding on to the surface.
The ball lobbed off to the bowler who dived to his right and took an outstanding one-handed stunner to send the batsman back who was anyways looking all at sea against Sundar off breaks.
Washington Sundar was on fire. He ended his spell with figures of 4-0-22-2 and put India in the driver's seat.
Washington Sundar showed off his batting prowess
With Daryl Mitchell playing a blinder of an inning, New Zealand finished their batting on a high note with a very respectable total of 176/6.
India found themselves in a hole when they were reeling at 83/4 after 11.4 overs and still needed 94 runs off 50 balls.
Washington Sundar started counter-attacking the New Zealand bowlers and played his shots with astute ease against both spinners and pacers.
This is a Washington Sundar appreciation post. A fine all-rounder's performance today! š
šø: BCCI
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His game against pace was something team management would be very happy to see, and they would see it as the sole silver lining from the match.
He pounced on everything bowled at length with an outstanding strikerate of 211.
He smashed five fours and three sixes in his 28-ball 50 runs innings and gave India a glimpse of winning the match for India.
He took a special liking to Jacob Duffy, whom he smoked for 17 runs in the 19th inning with two boundaries and a gigantic six over the long-off area.
Washington Sundar has the potential to become a genuine match-winner
With no help from the other end, he could not win it for his team, but he showed that he has all the ingredients to be what we call a "genuine match-winning all-rounder."
Sundar, if he stays fit, is going to be a mainstay across formats for a long time, and the team management needs to monitor his progress and make sure that he is given a long rope in all formats.