"Living the dream": Washington Sundar silences critics; thanks Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir after 7-fer in Pune

India National Cricket Team all-rounder Washington Sundar thanked the skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir for giving him the opportunity to play the second Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

Washington Sundar absolutely dominated with the ball on day one of the match on Thursday, October 24, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Washington Sundar Shines For India

Team India made three massive changes to their playing XI for the Pune Test after losing the series opener in Bengaluru. Pacer Mohammed Siraj and batter KL Rahul were dropped and were replaced by in-form Akash Deep and Sarfaraz Khan.

Another massive change was the inclusion of Washington Sundar directly into the playing XI. Notably, the all-rounder was not named in India's squad initially and was only added to the team after the first Test defeat.

Sundar replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI and this didn't go well with many experts. India head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma were criticized a lot for benching Kuldeep, but Sundar made sure to shut down the critics with his performance.

The 25-year-old emerged as a nightmare for the Kiwis as in his 23.1 overs, he dismissed seven batters while conceding just 59 runs.

I knew I was going to be playing 2 days back - Washington Sundar

Speaking after the play on day 1, Washington Sundar said that the performance in the first innings was a dream-come-true moment for him. He gave a special mention to Gambhir and Rohit for trusting him and revealed that he was aware of his selection in the playing XI for the last couple of days.

“Honestly, whatever happened today is a pure dream-come-true moment for me. Living the dream is an unbelievable feeling. I actually manifested this to happen in this particular series for a good couple of weeks, so the way it came through. Really grateful to the coach and the captain, unbelievable feeling,” Sundar said on JioCinema.

“I knew I was going to be playing 2 days back. It was a great opportunity, especially because I wasn't part of the squad in the series in the first Test. To be getting the opportunity after the first Test after the call-up… I'm really grateful," he added.

Ashwin asked me to try a couple of things that worked well - Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar further revealed how the advice from Ravichandran Ashwin helped him trouble the New Zealand batter.

“It was amazing, honestly. We had a lot of communication going. We were very curious to see what the wicket had to offer from the beginning. Ashwin asked me to try a couple of things that worked well, especially in the spell before tea. I’m really grateful for his advice,” Washington Sundar said.

While talking about his strategy for the match, Washington Sundar stated that he just tried to be accurate and consistent with his lines and lengths.

“I try and work on different wrist positions, and that really helped me today. Especially around tea, the ball got soft, and it wasn’t ideal for me to keep bowling at a good pace. I had to vary my deliveries, and the balls that I actually varied were the ones that got me the important wickets.

“My plan was to be accurate and consistently hit the right areas, expecting there would be something in the wicket to offer. After lunch, I varied my pace a bit more but always aimed for accuracy without giving anything easy to the batters,” Washington Sundar added.