Washington Sundar ready to don the opener's role in Tests after dream debut in Brisbane

Team India's all-rounder Washington Sundar has said that he would definitely love to open the batting for the side in the longest format if given an opportunity. Sundar had scored a vital 62 in the recently-concluded Gabba Test which also happened to be his maiden Test half-century as well.

'It will be a blessing for me': Washington Sundar

“I think it will be a blessing for me if I ever get an opportunity to open the batting for India in Tests. I think I will accept the challenge just like our coach Ravi sir did during his playing days,” said Sundar while speaking to PTI.

At the same time, the Tamil Nadu cricketer also revealed how the current head coach Ravi Shastri motivates the players by telling very inspiring stories from his playing days with regards to his journey from a specialist spinner on debut to an opening batsman in red-ball cricket.

“Ravi sir tells us very inspiring stories from his playing days. Like how he made his debut as a specialist spinner, got four wickets, and batted at number 10 against New Zealand on debut. And how from there, he became a Test opener and played all those great fast bowlers. I would love to open batting in Tests like him,” he added.

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A dream debut for Washington Sundar

It was indeed a dream debut for the Chennai cricketer as he was selected in India's Playing XI after SCG hero as well as veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was ruled out of the decider due to a back strain that he had picked up during his heroic knock in the third Test. 

The 21-year-old made the most of his opportunities with his excellent all-round skills. In the first innings, he finished with figures of 3/89 that included the prized wicket of Steve Smith and then played an outstanding knock of 62 with the bat by adding a vital 123-run stand along with Shardul Thakur (67) for the seventh-wicket stand after the visitors were starring down the barrel at 186/6.

Their heroic partnership resurrected the Indian innings as the visitors managed to score 336 in reply to Australia's first innings total of 369. 

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The young off-spinner was a bit expensive in the second innings as he finished his spell with figures of 1/80 by accounting for a well-set David Warner for 48. The middle-order batsman then proceeded to play an impactful knock of 22 that included two boundaries and a maximum during India's stiff chase of 328. 

Even though he was castled by his Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon, it did not even matter as India were in complete control of the proceedings by that point in time as they only needed 10 more runs to wrap up the proceedings.

In the end, Rishabh Pant hit the winning runs as all the members of the Indian team ran towards the ground to celebrate. Thus, Ajinkya Rahane & Co. ended up retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy by winning the four-match series 2-1 and India registered back-to-back Test series triumphs Down Under.

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