I was getting the rhythm right from the scratch – Washington Sundar on defining spell in second innings

Washington Sundar stayed unbeaten with the bat in the first innings, scoring an instrumental half-century in Dharamsala against Afghanistan. He proved his all-round skills, claiming four crucial wickets in the second innings of the Test as India registered their biggest-ever Test win.

Talking in a post-match interview, Sundar revealed his thoughts after a defining spell in the second innings. He also decoded the blue print which got him the success in the latter half of the day while underscoring his feelings after getting a fifty in the first innings.

Reflecting on his four-fer in the second innings, Sundar said, “I felt really good, especially to play this format after a while. Yeah, I just wanted to get a lot of volume coming into the game and obviously I felt like I was getting the rhythm right from the scratch, from ball one. And that was definitely a very good feeling.”

Highlighting his strategy, Washi added, “I mean, nothing of that sort. I didn't really think about the pace as such. I was just working on getting my rhythm right. And especially yesterday I was bowling really well. The way the ball was coming out of my hand, I was really pleased with it. And obviously this morning I got to keep the consistency and the rest of the wickets did have something for us.”

Underscoring the philosophy of sticking to basics, Washi stated, “Yes, towards the end I sort of wanted to bowl a little wide, but apart from that, I wanted to be as close to the stumps as possible. And obviously get those lengths really right because this wicket is a little slow. And I mean, if you're going to bowl a good length or a little back of length, the batsmen just did have a little bit of time to actually go in the back foot and sort of manoeuvre. So I had to really get lengths really right in this wicket.”

Washi also opened up on a couple of reviews that didn’t go his way, adding, “I mean, it's part and parcel of the game, obviously. And we just try and go with our experiences in the past and obviously what our gut says at that point of time. And you've got to use the technology to the best. We try and use it to the best. It doesn't happen every time, but it's just an experience.”

He concluded by talking about his half-century, stating, “Definitely, it felt really good, both with the bat and the ball. I wanted to show good discipline with the bat and glad the way I sort of approached the entire innings and God was kind.”