Washington Sundar's bold claim ahead of Day 5 proved be a bit too early, as India collapsed to a 22-run defeat in a nail-biting affair, at Lord's. The third Test match was a topsy-turvy affair and until the final innings, it looked like it was India's game. But then the visiting top order had a rare glitch in their 193-run chase, and ended up gifting England a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Ahead of Day 5, Sundar was interviewed by Sky Sports, where he boldly predicted that India win the match within the first session itself. “Definitely India winning tomorrow, probably in the first session,” he said.
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But then the opposite happaned as India failed to fightback in the first session and wickets continued to tumble, eventually leading to defeat.
Jos Buttler dissects Washington Sundar's claim
Dissecting Sundar's claim, Jos Buttler felt that it played a key role in motivating England for Day 5, and also pointed a rare gesture by head coach Brendon McCullum.
“Has he actually said that? Washington Sundar's interview where he says about, you know, when India win tomorrow, when we go 2-1 up. And I thought, I wonder if he's just sort of, you know, got his words out wrong, you know, hopefully we'll win. But it was the proper, you know, incredible confidence. Yeah, we're going to win. And it's always one of those moments where you're like, you don't miss a thing, do you, in this day and age? Someone will have heard about that in the dressing room. It's almost like instead of anyone having to say anything this morning for England you could have just played that interview and that would have got people so fired up,” he said, while speaking on a YouTube show.
{{/usCountry}}“Has he actually said that? Washington Sundar's interview where he says about, you know, when India win tomorrow, when we go 2-1 up. And I thought, I wonder if he's just sort of, you know, got his words out wrong, you know, hopefully we'll win. But it was the proper, you know, incredible confidence. Yeah, we're going to win. And it's always one of those moments where you're like, you don't miss a thing, do you, in this day and age? Someone will have heard about that in the dressing room. It's almost like instead of anyone having to say anything this morning for England you could have just played that interview and that would have got people so fired up,” he said, while speaking on a YouTube show.
{{/usCountry}}“There's a little clip of when Washington came out to bat and McCullum over the balcony sort of you know telling everyone to raise it, it's the guy who's been chirping.
“You set yourself up, don't you? It's horrible. But you're like, no, everyone's all over me. I could have just come out here and tried to, you know, have a good game and try my best. But now everyone knows that what I've said in the media last night, and this is going to be, everyone's after me. Even McCullum, who's possibly the only time he didn't have his feet up. He's leant forward to say, come on. Let's ramp it up for this guy,” he added.
Sundar came to bat at a time when India needed a partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. But the all-rounder failed miserably, and was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Jofra Archer, with India at 82/7. Jadeja remained unbeaten at 61* off 181 balls, but the support from tailenders Jasprit Bumrah (5 off 54 balls), Mohammed Siraj (4 off 30 balls) proved to be not enough.