Courtesy: BCCI/X
Harbhajan Singh, the Indian cricketing legend, has shared his thoughts on Washington Sundar being preferred as the lone spinner in the recently concluded first Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series against Australia. The 44-year-old spoke about how the ‘long term plan’ of the Indian team management is to replace Ravichandran Ashwin with Washington Sundar, which is why the latter is being groomed as the lead spin bowler in the side.
Notably, in the first BGT Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth, India defeated Australia by a massive margin of 295 runs, to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. In this Test match, Washington Sundar, who was picked as the lone spinner, bowled 17 overs in total, picking up two wickets for 49 runs with most of his work being done in the second innings after the Indian pacers had bowled the Australians out for just 104 runs in the first innings.
India have kept Sundar with them (for) whenever Ashwin will retire: Harbhajan Singh
In his comments to the PTI about Washington Sundar’s emergence as the lead spin bowler of India, Harbhajan SIngh remarked, as quoted by the Times of India, “I think that's what their (team management and selectors') long term plan is. Ravichandran Ashwin has done a phenomenal job playing for India in taking all those wickets in his career. But now that he is at that stage, at the age of 38.”
“That's why they have kept Washington Sundar with them (for) whenever R Ashwin will retire. The team thinks that they have to prepare Washington, so I think they are working on the same path,” added Harbhajan Singh. Moreover, he also hailed the Indian cricket team for their emphatic Test win at the Optus Stadium in Perth, a city where Australains are known to dominate oppositions, especially in Test cricket.
