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Stuart Broad’s scathing rant on Shubman Gill turns prophetic; on-air analysis hits bullseye just 13 balls later
Stuart Broad almost prophecied Washington Sundar's opening wicket as he expressed his surprise at the spinner's delayed arrival with the ball in Manchester.
For nearly 60 overs on Day 3, Washington Sundar was nowhere in sight, even as England’s right-handers milked India’s pacers and left-arm spin with increasing ease. Stuart Broad, speaking during the lunch break on JioHotstar, voiced what many had begun wondering aloud about where the off-spinner who’d picked four wickets in the first innings at Lord’s was. The calls to bowl Sundar grew during the second day itself, when the opening duo of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley put India under instant pressure with a quickfire 166-run partnership.
“All around Old Trafford, everybody had been saying, 'Where is Washington Sundar, why are we not seeing him?' They were 300/2 and we hadn't seen the off-spinner, he got four wickets in the first innings at Lord's,” Broad said.
India vs England Live Updates 4th Test Day 3
“He came for three overs pre-lunch and you saw he got the drift against right-handers, looked like outside edge came in the game. I was really surprised, it was a mistake by Shubman Gill to not bring [him] in the game.”
Broad didn’t stop there, going on to highlight just how damaging such delay can be to a bowler’s rhythm and confidence. “Your confidence is high when you've got four wickets, then you wait for 60 overs to get introduced to the bowling attack, it just takes the momentum away from you personally. I don't think they should've delayed his introduction as much as they did.”
Broad proven right
And as if the script were listening, Sundar's second over produced the moment India had been missing all morning.
It took just 13 deliveries after lunch for Broad’s pointed observation to age like prophecy. Sundar produced the kind of ball Broad had said India were missing: a tossed-up delivery that drifted away from Ollie Pope. Reaching out to drive, Pope was lured by the flight but undone by the zip off the surface. The outside edge flew low to slip, where KL Rahul stooped forward and pouched a sharp take.
Sundar eventually struck another blow to England soon, dismissing Harry Brook for just 3.
The second session belonged completely to England, though, who scored 107 runs without losing another wicket. The Root-Pope ensured England were on the brink of surpassing India’s first-innings 358.
