Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma -led Team India made a brave choice to rest Kuldeep Yadav while electing their Playing XI against New Zealand for the 2nd Test Match. The inclusion of Washington Sundar took everyone by surprise, but the gamble turned out successful as he delivered a standout performance on his national team comeback. Washington and Ashwin led the charge as they brought the Kiwis down in an approachable target, which could promptly get them the lead. On Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion to get Sundar in, a former India cricketer has heaped praise on the management and selectors for taking the chance on the spin-bowling all-rounder.     

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Ex-India Star Hails Team Selector & Management’s Decision To Bench Kuldeep Yadav For Washington Sundar

While writing his thoughts on ‘X’ [Formerly Twitter], Former India Cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has praised the Team management and selectors’ decision to rest Kuldeep and elect Washington Sundar in the Playing XI for the 2nd India vs New Zealand test in Pune. The MCA Stadium tracks saw spinners being favoured, and Sundar shined throughout the innings. He pointed out that Kuldeep was not needed for the play, and a fast finger spinner would do the trick.

“Common sense selection. In-form seamer in. When pitch is offering a lot, you don’t need an artiste like Kuldeep, a tall, quick, finger spinner will do,” tweeted Sanjay Manjrekar.

Manjrekar also hailed everyone, including the team management, selectors, and Washington Sundar after he put up incredible numbers with the ball and scored his maiden fifer, leading to a seven-fer.

“Now all, the selectors, the team management & of course Washy himself deserve a huge pat on the back for that 5 wicket haul!” the Former India cricket said in another tweet.

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Washington Sundar made his test cricket debut for the Indian Cricket Team at the Gabba in January 2021. Since then, he featured in just five test matches for the Men in Blue. But Washi got the chance to make a name, and he made sure that he did not disappoint anyone. The spin-bowling all-rounder turned the momentum into India’s side after he took out the in-form Rachin Ravindra. After that, he went into a wicket-taking spree and scalped the remaining Kiwi batters to bowl them out at 259.