Washington Sundar's father not happy with the tail-enders

|| India Correspondent ||

Team India have registered a convincing series win over England in the four-match Test series. And the young bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar has certainly left a mark. However, his Test series would have become more memorable if he could manage a hundred which he was on the verge of getting.

But, he didn't get support from the other end as India's tail-enders failed to steady the ship. In the first Test in Chennai, he remained unbeaten on 85 while on Saturday, he was near to his century, ending at 96 not out as well. And, India's last three wickets – including the run-out of the spinner Axar Patel, fell in the space of five deliveries and with no addition of a single run as well

"I don’t understand why people are surprised at his batting. I have been hearing. He can face the new ball. But we are ready for whatever the Indian team asks him to do," his father M. Sundar, who wasn't quite happy, told IANS.

"What I am really disappointed about are the tailenders. They couldn’t stay on for even a brief while. Suppose India were playing, needing 10 runs to win, wouldn’t this have been a huge mistake. There are millions of youngsters watching, they shouldn’t learn what the tail-enders did," he further added. "It is not about technique or skills. It was a matter of courage. England were tired, Stokes was bowling at 123-126. They were not bowling at lethal pace."

Washington Sundar has been contributing with the bat alongside his bowling. However, before playing in the fourth Test at the Gabba against Australia in January, he had featured in just 12 first-class matches. He had played Chennai league cricket and also opened for Tamil Nadu as well. But it was his batting ability that worked for him.

"It is quite surprising (to see people bracketing him as a bowler). Washy (Washington Sundar) bowled in some of the IPL matches this season. He shot to fame because of his bowling in the powerplay. Quite surprising that people don’t recognise that he is a batsman who can bowl," said off-spinner R Ashwin.

"I am not surprised at his batting because he works really hard at his batting. In fact, we have discussions on how you should bowl more as well. He loves his batting. He is mainly a batsman so I am not surprised at his batting. He is a special batsman," Ashwin further added.