Why was Washington Sundar drafted into the XI for the Pune Test?

On October 24, India made a surprising call when they picked Washington Sundar out of the blue to replace Kuldeep Yadav in India’s playing XI for the Pune Test. Prior to the recall, Sundar hadn’t played a Test for India since March 2021, when he played a solid hand with the bat against England, scoring 96 in Ahmedabad. 

Since then, Washington has been trusted primarily as a white-ball player. So what led to India recalling Washington out of nowhere? Over the last three years, the left-handed batter has been quite active on the red-ball circuit, with 16 first-class appearances. 

In those 16 appearances, Washington has amassed 601 runs, averaging just 28.62, but has managed three fifties and a century. It was that century against Delhi, which came as recently as last week, that triggered the youngster's comeback. 

Batting at No.3, the left-hander smacked an almost chanceless 152 against Delhi, showing his prowess with the bat. But was it just his batting that led to India taking the decision to pick him in the squad? 

"With New Zealand having so many left handers, we wanted someone who can take the ball away from them. We haven't decided on the playing XI, but he's a good option to have," Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, said of Sundar’s call-up. 

Has Washington done enough to earn himself a call-up because of his bowling?

The off-spinner has picked up 29 wickets in all red-ball games since his last Test, averaging 28.9, with one four-wicket haul and one five-wicket haul. Incidentally, the five-wicket haul came in England, playing for Lancashire, in 2022, where he also picked up the wicket of New Zealand’s No.3, Will Young. 

Even in the clash against Delhi last week, the off-spinner was pretty impressive with the ball, registering figures of 3/45 and 3/43 across the two innings in the game, justifying his place in the Indian XI. True to what Gambhir said, the off-spinner, since his last Test appearance, has picked up eight wickets against left-handers, averaging 14.3 in contrast to 28 against right-handers.

“Not a lot of grass. Might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world,” New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said at the toss. 

Much of a call-up for Washington is on the back of the surface in play here at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. It would be interesting to see how he goes about things with India have their backs against the wall.

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here.