Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes the national men’s head coach Gautam Gambhir got ‘too carried away’ with Washington Sundar’s talent, saying that the all-rounder has a long way to go in proving himself as a true prospect, at least as a batter.
Manjrekar recalled how Sundar made an immediate impact, much like Ravichandran Ashwin, impressing as a tall off-spinner who kept things simple. But he only got the attention of the selectors after his batting performances in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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“I think his whole trajectory of his career changed when he played for India as a Test player, and everyone saw the batting side of Washington Sundar in tough conditions in Australia.
He would bat down the order and get you 60-70 runs,” on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast.
”And then we had a very excited Indian coach called Gautam Gambhir, who wanted him to be everywhere. So I look at Washington Sundar, and at the moment in white-ball cricket, I don’t see him. He’s not really there as a pure bowler, nor does he have the pedigree or the performances to play as a pure batter.”
Manjrekar suggested that Gambhir was wrong to trust Sundar to bat at the top of the order. He said the spinner needs to be profiled better and groomed as more of a bowling all-rounder.
“His exceptional showing at the Test level has got people excited with what he can offer with bat and ball. He’s got seven wickets in a Test match, he can play as a pure spinner, plus bat down the order and bat like a proper batter, which got Gautam Gambhir sometimes to promote him to number three,” he said.
“But I think that’s just getting a little too carried away. He has to be a bowling all-rounder in T20 cricket. I would like to extract that and make him that guy who will bowl the four overs, but four overs of off-spin, it’s a tough one to get away.”
