Months ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025, newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir assembled a near-full-strength squad for the three-ODI series against Sri Lanka. After a tie in the first ODI, Indian batting lineup crumbled again and lost to Sri Lanka by 32 runs in second ODI as Jeffrey Vandersay bagged a six-wicket haul. India face an uphill challenge in the third ODI as they look to level the series before heading back home. In the pre-match press conference, Washington Sundar said that Gambhir gave a lot of inputs in the training sessions to counter the spin challenge posed by the hosts.
"He (Gambhir) was a high-quality player of spin. We've always seen him put up brave performances, especially on such pitches against quality spin bowling. So obviously there has been a lot of input from him. That's one of the reasons we came here today to practice and try and find a way and try to do those small little changes,” Sundar said in the pre-match press conference.
"We're the best team, we just need to put our hands up in those critical situations in the games. Tomorrow it's an opportunity for us to do exactly that and win the game. Obviously, with big tournaments coming up, we will be in such situations. It's really important to find ways to see what we can do to win those critical situations in similar conditions against quality spin attacks."
Sundar defends batters
Sundar defended the batters despite their dismal show in the first two ODIs as they botched up the run chase. The 24-year-old said feels that it is just a matter of finding a way to get the job done.
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"Honestly, we are quality players of spin. We've always played on these kinds of wickets even at home, even in Tests and in domestic cricket as well. We know a lot of our players have done well in the middle-order especially while batting against spin. It is just a matter of finding a way in their own individual ways to try and get the job done," Sundar said.
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