India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak feels that playing Washington Sundar at No.3 wasn't a bad decision and praised the latter for the way he batted against South Africa at Eden Gardens. Many were left surprised with the Men in Blue's move of benching Sai Sudharsan and playing Sundar in his place at No.3. Though many questioned as to why the all-rounder was elevated up the batting order, his performances were decent enough.
Sundar scored 60 runs in total
Sundar recorded scored of 31 and 29 in the first and second innings respectively and even though he had never batted for India at the position, he looked to be in control for most of the time. On a pitch where majority of the batters struggled to score much, the 26-year-old proved to be one of the Men in Blue's highest-scorers in both the innings.
Kotak remarked that Sundar's performance was as good as any other batter from the team and was satisfied with the amount of runs he scored even though he had never played so high up the order for India.
"When you think that against South Africa, two left arm spinners may be useful, and you also want a wrist spinner. In that process, if you go on with the second left arm spinner, then you are obviously going with one less batter. But the amount of runs Washington has scored, he is as good as any batter," Kotak said in a press-conference.
Sundar's notable improvement in batting department
Washington had showcased that he has the ability to bat well in the lower-middle order in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England that was held earlier this year. He finished the series with 284 runs from eight innings, including a century and half-century each. Since then, he has started focusing a lot more on his batting and this has even led to him in getting fewer overs.
For instance, Sundar only bowled a single over during the first Test against South Africa even though he has proven himself to be a reliant spinner on occasions. It remains to be seen if a similar pattern will continue in the second Test as well that will commence from November 22 in Guwahati.