Washington Sundar returned to Test cricket with a bang as he played a Test for the first time since facing England in Ahmedabad in March 2021.
On his return, after going wicketless in the first session, Sundar took 7/57 after Lunch, recording his best-ever figures in all First Class cricket, helping India bowl New Zealand for 259 after being 197/3 at one stage.
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How did Washington Sundar plan his return?
Opening up about his long-awaited return, Sundar talked about how he was waiting to play for India again and his plans while bowling to the NZ middle order after going wicketless in a session.
"It is amazing to be living the dream. I manifested this to happen in this [New Zealand] series. The way it came through was amazing. I was not part of the squad but I was called up for the series. So it is a fantastic feeling. I wanted to be accurate regardless of the batsman and situation. I focused on hitting the right areas and bowling to the stumps," he said at the press conference.
"I expected the wicket would offer something. I didn't want to give anything easy for the batsmen. After the tea, the ball got soft and I had to vary pace, and it gave me important wickets Definitely helps that I bowled a lot of overs in the Tamil Nadu vs Delhi [Ranji Trophy] game," he added.
Sundar also spoke about his dream of playing Test cricket and how he wants to keep grabbing opportunities. The all-rounder also expects more spin from Day 2 onwards.
"Test cricket is the ultimate dream. I am looking forward to getting an opportunity to bat tomorrow. There will be a spin on offer tomorrow. The second session today did not give a lot of help for spinners. I definitely think it will spin a lot," he concluded.
The Tamil Nadu spinner is currently playing his 5th Test and has already made substantial contributions in his short career, right from the debut at the Gabba to 96* in Ahmedabad and 7-fer in Pune today.
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