My skills are very good with red ball, says Washington Sundar

Washington kept Smith quiet for two overs and in the 13th delivery got him caught at short mid-wicket on Friday

Brisbane: Washington Sundar, prior to his unexpected Test debut on Friday against Australia, had bowled over 285 overs in first-class cricket and after dismissing Steve Smith, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner is ready to bowl 50 in an innings if that’s what the side wants of him.

India’s T20 specialist off-spinner was asked to stay back by the team management after the white-ball series to help as a net bowler but injuries to key players, including senior pro Ravichandran Ashwin, landed him in a mouth-watering duel with Smith which he won hands down.

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“I have always felt that my skills are very good with red ball. I have bowled a lot of overs in first class cricket and first division league in Chennai as well. I was just waiting for this opportunity and last couple of months, we were here, I did get to bowl a lot of overs and improve upon my skills,” the shy bowler said after first day’s play.

But does he have the stamina to bowl long spells that a team expects from its spinners considering that he hasn’t played first-class cricket since 2017? His answer is ‘bring it on’. “Like any bowler, I love bowling a lot of overs. It’s just so much fun to bowl a lot of overs. Give me 20, 30, 40 or 50 overs. We had some plans going for Steve Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne and I am very glad they worked. The first wicket definitely felt good.”

Washington kept Smith quiet for two overs and in the 13th delivery got him caught at short mid-wicket. Did Ashwin versus Smith set a template for him? “We did have some plans for Smith and it’s a different game altogether. Last game was different, conditions were different and I had to bowl good balls over and over again. It happened (the dismissal) and it’s great.”

He believes that the young bunch, a lot of whom are playing their first Test in the series, are a self-motivated lot despite being thrown at the deep end of the pool due to a series of injuries to senior players.

“If you see everyone, they have all done well at the first-class level. More than experience, guys were all excited. Nattu (T Natarajan) bowled really well and he brought his value to the team.”