Washington Sundar has impressed one and all with his performance during the Gabba Test. The talented Indian pacer made a surprise debut in the fourth and final Test match at the Gabba and went on to play an instrumental role in what turned out to be one of the most historic wins of the Indian cricket team in the longest format of the game.
R Ashwin, who was suffering from a sore back, was replaced by Washington Sundar in the last test match. He picked up four crucial wickets and even contributed 84 runs with the bat in the historic Gabba Test. He also became only the third Indian to score a half-century on Test debut in Australia
However, in an interaction, Indian fielding head coach R Sridhar revealed that Washington Sundar didn’t even have pads to go out and bat with.
Yes, you read that right. The cricketer had not even played a single first-class match since 2017 and was suddenly making his Test debut. He had traveled for the T20Is only and had not carried any pads of white color. He was even batting in the nets with the blue pads.
During the interaction, R Sridhar revealed how the team management and support staff struggled to find Sundar a pair of white pads that would fit him perfectly. He revealed:
“We tried many but they were too small for the tall Sundar. We tried getting from the Aussies but due to Covid, they could not spare their pads. Finally, we had to go to a shop after the Test match had started,’”
The Indian cricket team, led by Rishabh Pant’s match-winning gutsy knock scripted history by breaching The Gabba fortress, a venue where Australia had not lost the game in 32 years. India registered back-to-back Test series wins in Australia.
