‘This was typical Delhi pitch, heartening to take 20 wickets’: Washington Sundar on bowlers’ toil in 2nd Test
The Indian bowlers have had to put in the hard yards as they bowled for 200 overs in one go against the West Indies in the second Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Washington Sundar spoke on the work the bowlers did in this Test.
It was a typical Delhi pitch, with not much bounce on it, but it was heartening to have taken 20 wickets in the second Test against the West Indies, India spinner Washington Sundar feels.
Indian bowlers have had to toil hard for 200 overs in one go against the Windies in the Delhi Test after enforcing a follow-on on Day 3 of the fixture at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
India had put 518/5d in the first innings and had bowled the visitors out for 248 as the pitch offered minimal help to the bowlers, with it being slow and low. India decided to enforce a follow-on with a 270-run lead with them and the Windies fought valiantly in the follow-on, at least to bring India to bat once again and giving them a target of 121.
The hosts are in command with 63/1 after the stumps on the fourth day and are only 58 runs adrift of completing the chase and a 2-0 series win.
Speaking after the end of the day’s play, India spinner Washington Sundar, who has become a crucial member of the team in the past year or so, spoke on the work the bowlers have done in this Test and of the challenges different surfaces bring with them.
“It’s quite different in different venues, isn’t it?” Sundar said in the press conference at the end of the fourth day. “This, I would say, is a typical Delhi wicket, where there’s not much bounce, and obviously, there wasn’t a lot of turn on offer in this game. But yeah, different venues play quite differently, and that’s the beauty of this format in particular.”
“We play in a lot of different conditions, be it home or away, and obviously, all those conditions and the opposition challenge our skillsets, and that’s the beauty of this format. We keep going. We try and assess what’s really required in those conditions and really be on top of a game and do something special for the team.”
Sundar reflected how it was heartening to take 20 wickets on a surface like the Delhi one, which did not offer much for the bowlers. “On this kind of a wicket, you just need to be patient and try and hit those [good] areas more consistently, and that’s the only challenge,” Washington said. “It’s good to be bowling long spells, and it’s very heartening to have actually taken 20 wickets on a wicket like this. All of the bowlers bowled really well, even the fast bowlers bowled their heart out every single spell, so it’s very heartening.
