‘We had to go to a shop after Brisbane’s Test match had started,’ reveals Sridhar saying Sundar didn’t have a pair of white pads

‘We had to go to a shop after Brisbane’s Test match had started,’ reveals Sridhar saying Sundar didn’t have a pair of white pads
Washington Sundar celebrating his maiden fifty in Brisbane.

In the just-concluded Australian tour of 2020-21, Washington Sundar made a surprise debut in the fourth and the decider Test match in Brisbane. On the unavailability of the injury inflicted Ravichandran Ashwin- Sydney’s third Test match protagonist, Sundar made a mark in the maiden Test.

The batting all-rounder travelled to Australia for the T20I series, where he played the three matches and stayed back with the team, even though he wasn’t in the Test squad. He was a net bowler who was kept in the team so that he could imitate Nathan Lyon’s bowling style and help Indian batsmen to be prepared for it.

Sundar was selected for T20’s only

Washington Sundar in the T20 match against Australia.

With the plans to feature in just the T20’s and having got a surprise maiden call for the Test match, Sundar did not have any white colour pads. The former used the blue T20 pads while he was batting in the nets. The fact that he didn’t feature in any single first-class match since 2017 and suddenly got a Test debut call against Australia, Sundar was short of necessary equipment.

India’s fielding coach R Sridhar revealed that the Indian team and support staff struggled to find him a pair of pads that would fit him perfectly. “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,’’ he was quoted saying by Telangana Today.

Washington Sundar was picked over Kuldeep Yadav and expected him to bat at number 7  so that he can become an ideal replacement for Jadeja. Sundar scored his maiden half-century that extended to a much needed 62-run knock in the first innings. He scalped four wickets in the debut match, two of which were of Steve Smith and David Warner.

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