Washington Sundar was a mere spectator for 68 overs of England's innings in the fourth Test in Manchester, well, almost. He was in the firing line when Joe Root and Ollie Pope had a mix-up in the middle, providing India with a genuine run out opportunity, which was grasped. Sundar was not the fielder; it was Ravindra Jadeja. Mohammed Siraj got one to bounce from a length that got Joe Root fending. Pope set off for a single, but the Root was a bit taken aback. He took a lot of time to respond. Jadeja had a shy at the stumps but was way off the target.
It was difficult for Jadeja to knock the stumps down from that distance, but if anyone had backed up, Root would have been miles short of his crease. Jadeja made no attempts to hide his thoughts. He lashed out at Sundar, who was at mid on, for not being proactive by backing up.
It happened in the last ball of the 54th over. For the next 14 overs, Sundar was a by-stander, quietly watching Pope and Root milking Indian seamers. After ignoring his oss-spinning all-rounder for 68 overs, India captain Shubman Gill finally decided to introduce him into the attack.
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Sundar bowled four overs before the Lunch break for 19 runs. He could not provide India with the much-needed breakthrough but got enough drift away from the right-handers with the revs he put in on the ball to keep the first slip interested.
{{/usCountry}}Sundar bowled four overs before the Lunch break for 19 runs. He could not provide India with the much-needed breakthrough but got enough drift away from the right-handers with the revs he put in on the ball to keep the first slip interested.
{{/usCountry}}England played out the first session without losing any wickets, as Root and Pope scored runs for fun. During the Lunch break, one of the main topics was Shubman Gill's reluctance to throw the ball to Washington Sundar, who had picked up four wickets in the second innings at Lord's.
Former cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar, Stuart Broad, Ravi Shastri, and Jonathan Trott minced no words in asking Gill tough questions. Manjrekar said India head coach Gautam Gambhir should also share the blame, as Gill is a young captain.
It cannot be said with certainty whether the Indian team management listened to all the criticism, but they started the second session with Sundar. The off-spinner responded in style. He used the away drift to perfection. Pope plonked his front foot and played away from his body to getmann outside edge. KL Rahul took a sharp catch in the first slip.
The 144-run partnership was broken. Four overs later, Sundar got another breakthrough. This time, it was Harry Brook who got sucked into playing away from his body. He was also guilty of charging down the track way too early, allowing Sundar time to drag his length back slightly. The drift took the ball away from Brook's reach and he was stranded way outside his crease. India's substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel made no mistake behind the stumps. Brook was stumped for 3.