Mumbai: Post the third day of the Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia, Indian cricketer Washington Sundar displayed incredible character, forming a crucial partnership with Nitish Kumar Reddy and batting resolutely almost throughout the day.
Speaking exclusively to Star Sports about his innings, Sundar said: “The intent was definitely to fight no matter what the situation is. I mean, the way things turned out was really heartening. I mean, very grateful to be in an atmosphere like this where there are so many people coming out to support us. It was a big gift for us. And obviously, in the context of the series as well, it was going to be very important for us to keep getting ourselves into a good position. But yeah, different phases we played out differently. But we kind of saw through every little phase quite well. I mean, me and Nitesh kept telling each other that we’re going to fight no matter what. And I mean, the way he batted was amazing to watch from the other end. The message was quite clear from the dressing room. We just needed to play time no matter what. Because runs were coming in and they were also getting quite tired as well. So runs were going to come at some stage. So it was just important for us to spend a lot of time out there in the middle. And yes, playing against Australia, especially in Australia, they are going to come really, really hard no matter the situation. So yeah, it was really good and I’m very happy with myself, the way I approached my game and very glad.”
Speaking further on how India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Abhishek Nayar guided him, Sundar added: “Gauti Bhai has helped me a lot because he’s trusted in me a lot. And he’s kept telling me how much my batting skill set is going to be important for the team. And even the batting coach Abhishek Nair, he’s worked a lot in my game. And he’s always made sure tactically I’m always there. And no matter, we knew Australians are going to try out different things in different phases of the game. But he talks a lot about tactics and having such information, especially out there, I think it made a lot of things easy for me.”
