Follow UsOn 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. Washington answered that call in the most Washington of manners, picking up a seven-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Despite not playing a single Test since March 2021 and only six wickets in his entire Test career, there was a mountain to climb for the 25-year-old, who continued to make steady progress. Not only was he tight in his channel, but he was also troubling the batters, putting them under immense pressure because of his speed variations.
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.
"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.
Washington answered Gambhir’s call, removing the on-song Rachin Ravindra, justifying his place in the XI after the New Zealand batter scored a sizzling 65. Minutes later, Washington beat Tom Blundell with a stunning delivery that turned into the right-hander, beating him on the inside.
The 25-year-old showed his wizardry to remove Daryl Mitchell as well before enticing Glenn Phillips into an ugly hoick, which was his fourth wicket of the night. It was only because of how the Tamil Nadu off-spinner kept his lines tight, which made it extremely difficult for the Kiwi batters to get going.
Tim Southee turned out to be Washington’s fifth wicket of the day, which was also his first-ever five-wicket haul in the red-ball format. That led to even Sunil Gavaskar going gaga over the selection, with the former Indian skipper calling the move to pick Washington an “inspired selection” from the management.
It was only poetic that the Tamil Nadu man wrapped up the innings and picked up the seventh wicket with a brute of a delivery, dismissing an on-song Mitchell Santner with his fifth bowled of the innings. Only twice have Indian bowlers picked up five wickets via bowled, as the all-rounder joined Jadeja, who did it against Australia in Delhi (2023).
In the process, both Washington and Ravichandran Ashwin combined to pick up all ten wickets. Never before in the history of India's Test cricket has two off-spinners combined to pick up ten wickets in the same innings, as Ashwin-Washington created history.
New Zealand, convincingly well placed on 196/3, succumbed under immense pressure from the two off-spinners to fold out for 259 despite batting in the most friendly conditions for the batters.
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