I Was Waiting For This Opportunity For A Very Long Time: Washington Sundar

India’s Test cricketer No. 301 Washington Sundar has revealed that he was waiting for the opportunity in red-ball cricket for a very long time and even though he hasn’t played FC cricket since 2017, he is ready to bowl long spells for his team in the ongoing Gabba Test against Australia.

Sundar, who had stayed back with the Indian team following the culmination of the white-ball Internationals as a net bowler, got an unprecedented call-up to the Test team after Ravichandran Ashwin was ruled out due to a back spasm.

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner, in the post-day interview, exuded confidence in his red-ball skills despite having not played FC cricket since 2017.

‘I have always felt that my skills are very good with red ball. I have bowled a lot of overs in first class cricket and first division league in Chennai as well. I was just waiting for this opportunity and last couple of months, we were here, I did get to bowl a lot of overs and improve upon my skills,” Washington Sundar said.

When asked about whether he will be able to bowl long spells considering the fact that India are already one bowler short after Navdeep Saini hobbled off the field due to groin strain, his response was- ‘Bring it on!’

”Like any bowler, I love bowling a lot of overs. It’s just so much fun to bowl a lot of overs. Give me 20, 30, 40 or 50 overs. We had some plans going for Steve Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne and I am very glad they worked. The first wicket definitely felt good.” he added.

Washington Sundar gave a good account of himself on his debut as he consistently troubled Steve Smith with the leg-stump before eventually bringing about his downfall. When asked if Ravichandran Ashwin vs Steve Smith battle set a template for him as far as his ploy against the Australian, Sundar said:

“We did have some plans for Smith and it’s a different game altogether. Last game was different, conditions were different and I had to bowl good balls over and over again. It happened (the dismissal) and it’s great.” he said.

Australia asserted itself into a position of strength as they finished the day at 5/274. However, Sundar reckoner that the wicket is quite good for batting, and the inexperienced Indian bowling did reasonably well to restrict the Aussies.

“There was a little bit of spongy bounce till lunch and the wicket was good and bowlers did a good job to restrict Australia to 5 for 274.” Washington Sundar added.

Also Read: I Thank The Team Management For Keeping Me Through The Test Series: Washington Sundar